Problem and Solution #1-- Health Care Reform

The topic of health care has exploded into becoming a major debate within the Congress and the White House the past few weeks.

On one side, you have President Obama and most of the Democratic controlled Congress who wants a so called public option in order to reform health care. I'll have more on what that is in a moment for those who don't know what it is.

Then, there is the other side, mostly of Republicans and blue dog Democrats (conservative Democrats concerned about spending) that want to basically do nothing. Sure, maybe tort reform and a couple of minor changes, but nothing major.

I happen to disagree with both ideas. In order to explain myself, let me tell you furthermore about what these ideas are going to mean and their reasoning for these ideas.

On the side of the White House and most liberal Democrats, there has been a lot of talk about the public option. Basically, the public option is a government run plan (a modern version of Medicare and Medicaid) that would compete with the private insurance companies in order to bring down costs.

While this plan might work to bring down costs and cover more people, it will also expand the national debt. The reason is because this plan does not deal with the major issue as to why we have over 45 million people uninsured and millions more underinsured.

The issue that people are overlooking is the insurance companies, the drug companies and the trial lawyers, who are all working together to gouge people and raise people's premiums, while they deny more and more people coverage for different conditions they have. That's the problem here everyone. It is corporate America.

But even the left wing of left wing people does not seem to comprehend this. Their public option plan is a plan to cover, not bring down costs.

Therefore, what all of you can expect to see under this plan will be a public option that more and more people are going to opt into because of the highway robbery the private companies continue to commit. That will explode the deficit because more and more people will want into a government program. There is no way American can afford to do this. We are broke.

In fairness, not all Democrats have talked about the public option. Others have talked about another plan they like to call a "co-op" plan. Basically what that plan is, is to have a private, non-profit organization come in and cover those who are uninsured.

While this plan might cover those who are uninsured and could bring down the cost of health care premiums, it remains nothing more than another giveaway for big insurance companies, drug companies and trial lawyers to continue doing what they have been doing. Therefore, this non-profit might run out, as the private industry continues to shark people for profits.

Finally, there are the Republicans who have basically said they want to do nothing with health care. They think the system is fine, they think health insurance companies give out candy and flowers to people and to them, and it is all about the free market principles. If you can't afford health care, too bad because it is a privilege and commodity, not a right. The American people have rejected that line of loony thinking in 2008, which is why they find themselves out of power.

All of those plans might not be surprising to people, considering the fact that the Senate is bought out by the insurance companies, drug companies, and the trial lawyers. Senator Max Baucus, who is writing the main health bill in the Senate, has taken some major dough from the insurance companies, which might explain why he wants this "co-op" plan without any penalties or tougher laws and regulations on an industry ripping off the middle class in this country. Obviously, Baucus is not alone.

All of the plans that are being talked about now are not plans I could support. However, I realize something needs to be done to fight this rigged system. Just a couple of days ago, there was a girl of 17 who died because she was denied treatment for an illness she had by the health insurance companies because the procedure was too expensive for them. The family couldn't pay for it themselves. So, she ended up dying.

But this is exactly why we do need something done and we need it done this year. I just don't think doing nothing is acceptable, as well as what the left wing has proposed we do.

Instead, let me outline my idea:

1. Outlaw discrimination insurance companies use against people with preexisting conditions. Failure to do so will result in a fine of about $10 thousand for each time they do it. Strict oversight must be included from the government and must be done efficiently.

2. Outlaw drug companies from being able to gouge consumers. Failure to do so will result in a fine of about $5 thousand for each time they gouge a consumer. Gouging will be based on an average cost of drugs in other allied countries.

3. Completely outlaw frivolous lawsuits in all cases unless the person has credible evidence that supports a claim that the person, company, etc... they are suing ruined their or a family member's life.

4. Make a law that would force corporate American companies who do not buy insurance for their employees (ex... Wal-Mart) to buy insurance for all of their employees. Small businesses would not be required to purchase health insurance if they cannot afford it.

5. Provide incentives for businesses and individuals who push to live for a healthy lifestyle.

6. Go through the government and find any waste in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and eliminate it. (I am sure there is a ton of waste that can be cut and it would bring down spending for this program to more bearable amounts).

Those are some of the things I would personally do to the health care system. However, I believe that my vision will not pass, for it probably still does need work and because I am not a politician. However, the government should think of implementing something similar to this in the health care plan, so that more people are insured.

Selling out to the insurance companies SHOULD NOT be an option here in this reform bill.