Single payer system stinks or How I singlehandedly solved Universal Healthcare ;)

I am keeping the theme of stinking in the titles....


If you take out the people that could afford insurance and CHOOSE not to purchase and you take away illegal immigrants as well as those that are eligible for medicare/medicaid but have not signed up....you are left with between 8 and 12 million people who are classified as chronically uninsured, meaning that sometimes they have insurance and sometimes they dont....


You are telling me that spending TRILLIONS to insure those 12 million people is the way to go? Really? How about just buying them private insurance - it would be SOOO much cheaper!


But how about what Oklahoma does.... Oklahoma has a program where depending on your family's income, they subsidize private insurance. Its called Insure Oklahoma or OEPIC. And I dont mean that you need to have like 6 kids and make $25,000 a year or less.... It is designed for those that make too much for State or Federal programs, but dont really make enough to take on the entire burden themselves. Its for those that are squeezed in the middle - for a Single parent that make enough, but not that much.... Its made for the small business owner who is doing a good job, but needs just a bit to cover his or her family with medical coverage.


Here are a few little tidbits:

** If you are a family of 4 and you both work and make $50,000 or less, you can get the insurance...

** Say you are a single mom with 2 kids - If you make $40,000 or less you qualify....

** It has qualifiers for those that work for a company or those that are self-employed.

** If you are college student, you qualify....



Heres how it works - The state of Oklahoma will pick up 60% of your insurance premiums. The worker is expected to pay 15% and the business pays 25%. If you have a spouse, you pay 15% for them and the State pays 85% - the business pays nothing for a spouse.


Kids are counted in regards to family size, but are not eligible for the Insure Oklahoma program - they are covered under a program called Sooner Care.


Monthly premiums will not exceed 4% of monthly gross income.

$10 doctor co-pay
$5 pharmacy drugs
$30 emergency room visit (waived if admitted)
$50 copay for hospital stay


I think this is a good deal.


One of the reasons I love it so much is that it requires the person getting the insurance to put a little something in - they have some skin in the game. They will go see their doctor as opposed to go sit in the emergency room. They will pay attention to their health as it now affects their wallet.


When you hand people housing - food - medical care - it is an entitlement and it is eventually scorned. They feel they deserve it instead of being thankful for it.


But, ultimately, if you dont want coverage, you shouldnt have to get it. Of course, you will suffer the consequences of your actions, as it should be. You should not be penalized if you choose to pay your own way and you shouldnt get a free ride either.


My doctor should be allowed to take no insurance at all and be on a cash only system.


I dont have all the answers and I am sure there are people for whatever reason wouldnt make it on this plan either, but honestly - you arent going to catch every single person with one plan. And that is just fine -because despite what BO wants you to think, people in this country get the medical care they need. People NOT FROM THIS COUNTRY get the medical care that they need because when push comes to shove, we are Americans and we take the tired, the weak and the poor and we will fix them up, feed them, but we will also send their butts back home, sometimes on a private jet.....


This is Oklahoma's plan. It works here. It may not work elsewhere and thats just fine too....work your own state plan - but what we do not need is the Federal Government telling me in Oklahoma that I have to subsidize all the crap that they dictate in California or New York or Massachusetts. Let them work their own plan as we work ours.


In the same way the firearm legislation is a 10th Amendment issue, so is health care.


One final point....if you want to know where cheating, waste, fraud is greatest? Its in Medicare and Medicaid where the Government has taken away profit. There is no motivation to work harder, work smarter, take care of more people in order to increase your take home - there is only incentive to cheat and so many do. That doesnt mean that the private sector does things perfectly, but do you really want a single program that takes away a person's pursuit of happiness?


One last point - The Fed Gov touts tort reform as a major reason for a single payer system vs. private insurance. The major problem with rising insurance premiums is the doctors having to pay higher and higher malpractice insurance premiums. Capping jury amounts is not the answer because if someone really screws up, they should pay - but what would stop all the crap is just a simple system of loser pays. It would make the blood sucking ambulance chasers (different than an attorney) think twice before they sign up scumbags with soft tissue damage. It would make patients take a more active role in their care - which ya know, they should....this is your body and this doctor is working for you - make sure they do their job and do their job right.


As always and ESPECIALLY if Universal Health Care is passed - PRAY - PRAISE - PREPARE and today - PATIENT/PRESCRIPTION/PREMIUMS :)