Our Health Care Dilemma

In Ed Hubbard’s blog titled Our Health Care Dilemma, posted on Big Jolly Politics, the issues being discussed are the problems with Obamacare and several solutions that could be implemented instead. Hubbard is summarizing one of Holman Jenkins, Jr.’s articles in his column in the Wall Street Journal. I believe that the author is intending to attract readers that are citizens of voting age, most likely belonging to the middle- and lower classes. Hubbard believes that Americans need to take more personal responsibility for their health care and establish a doctor-patient relationship that would allow a free market health care system. The current system in place not only prohibits us from choosing our own doctor(s), but it also gives us no input into the cost or scope of services that these doctors provide us. The middle men, or “dictators,” comprised of private insurance companies, government agencies, hospital systems, and even employers, give Americans basically no choice over the health care that is received.

Obamacare puts all of the power in the hands of these middle men; therefore, Hubbard suggests a restructuring of the current system to a free market system. His solution involves three delivery systems. The first is coverage for major medical issues only and ones that require high deductibles or HSAs with the remaining cost falling to the individual. The second is a local hospital system that is paid for by local tax dollars and serves those in low-income families. The final is a voucher system that pays for private insurance premiums and covers the elderly with funds from the Medicare tax.

Critics of Hubbard’s three-delivery system inject that they cherish the “middle men” system because of its simplicity and the convenience of co-pays. Jenkins challenges that Americans must be willing to take back personal responsibility of their health care. And I agree. Sadly, many Americans are clueless about our current system. Therefore, I believe it is up to our school systems and parents to educate the youth of America about health care and its reform.

While I think that Hubbard is on the right track with his three-delivery system, I would like to have gotten more details about the coverage of each system. Our current health care system involves numerous loopholes and I think that contributes to the root of the problem. People need an understandable break-down of their coverage in order to know what is and is not covered by their policy. I cannot even begin to count the times that I have been at a doctor’s office, in the dark about how much I will owe at the end of my visit. Sometimes I am presented with a small co-payment, other times I leave without opening my wallet. I will admit that I did not read the fifty page packet that I received in the mail after signing up for health insurance, but even if I did, I am sure that I would not have understood or retained any of the information provided. I think most people will agree with that. Spell it out for me in a short, bulleted list that leaves nothing to the imagination.

Overall, I think Hubbard’s article was a great read and it opened my eyes to the alternatives that could be implemented to solve the current health care crisis. Hubbard seems very well-versed in this issue and I take to heart his suggestions, criticisms, and easy-to-understand outline of his reform.