If there is anything that gets my family going during a gathering it’s a discussion of the health care system.   My family is about evenly split between die hard Democrats and die hard Republicans.   As a child, I very often got to hear both sides of the story during heated debates at Christmas, Thanksgiving and other reunions.   Interestingly enough, both sides always made valid points (from my perspective) and it was always difficult to choose a side during my younger days.

A few years ago we were at a Thanksgiving dinner and we started a debate on the healthcare system.  I have family members that work in the healthcare system so we always get fairly current information on the status of health care ecosystem.   I loudly and vocally complained to the “Republican” members of the family (GOP was in charge) that the health care system was totally dysfunctional, broken and in need of serious overhaul.     The discussion turned interesting when almost everyone offered an opinion as to why it was broken:

  • Some family members blamed the pharmaceutical industry
  • Some family members blamed the health insurance companies
  • Some family members blamed the lawyers (lawsuits drive up malpractice insurance)
  • Some family members blamed illegal immigrants
  • Some family members blamed the government
  • Some family members blamed the “for profit” motives of the healthcare industry

I didn’t blame anyone but kept the list and pointed out to everyone that clearly everyone seemed to understand that health care in America is broken as the list kept growing and growing.    Today, years later, I’m watching, reading and hearing the same merry-go-round of issues talked about Obama’s plan.   The latest argument I saw on TV was that the government would ultimately take over health care and make decisions on who/what gets treated.

Hmmm…How is this an argument against the plan?  Don’t health insurance companies make decisions NOT to treat people every day?   Aren’t procedures considered too new or too theoretical for insurance companies to pay for them?   Don’t pharmaceutical companies make decisions on who won’t get their medications this week based on their pricing model?    The most memorable quote was, “I don’t want government bureaucrat making my healthcare decisions” but a health insurance bureaucrat making decisions is acceptable?

From a personal finance perspective, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that we’ve paid anywhere from $300/month to $600/month for health insurance over the years.   On top of that, there are deductibles, co-pays and out of pocket expenses which are completely ludicrous.

I do have a big problem with the Obama approach on health care and that is that the assumption exists that we can’t have a health care system in America without insurance companies.   Why not simply ban health insurance altogether?   This would force doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to reprice their medical practices to something realistic.   If Wal-mart, Best Buy and McDonalds can come up with standard pricing models why is it so difficult for Hospitals and Doctors to do the same?

We’re having a big family reunion next week so I’m getting ready for the big debate and I’m taking notes…..