Everyone is talking about healthcare reform. That in itself is not a bad thing. It seems to me that the high cost of insurance and the large number of people who are unable to afford any insurance (and thus tend to be disqualified from any kind of early detection or wellness care) should make us concerned.
However, rushing to change doesn't seem like such a good idea either. 15 years or so ago the government decided that they would make it easier for people to get home mortgages by mandating that many people who used to be disqualified from loans should now be given flexible rate loans. The current financial crisis can be traced back to the decision to move away from good financial sense.
It seems that the idea of forcing Insurance companies to take "bad risk" clients is going to do a couple of things: first, it will drive many out of the health insurance business. 2) It will drive premiums up for everyone else. We are lining things up for another Savinds and Loan mess.
Medical facilities spend hundreds and hundreds of thousands (or more) each year to defend themselves against nuisance lawsuits. This is not addressed in any of the bills I've heard talked about.
Millions is spent in Medical expenses just paying for people who do nothing other than address government regulations and compliance issues. Most hospitals and Drs offices are buried in government paperwork. All that cost gets passed on to the rest of us. Congress is proposing more red tape. That translates into more paperwork = more costs.
This is an issue that demands great wisdom. Pray for our lawmakers to come up with changes that will help us rather than hurt us in the future.
