Healthcare reform funnels money into private companies.
Some of the loudest cries against healthcare reform and the ACA are from opponents that wrongly state that the reform is a “government takeover of healthcare in America.” If you take a casual look at the structural reforms that have taken place over the last several years you’ll notice that the tables tilt toward private companies and not government institutions.
Medicare Part C, better known as Medicare Advantage Plan, was rolled out to the public in 1997. Medicare Advantage Plans are offered through private companies to Medicare eligible beneficiaries. The Federal government pays the private insurance company to administer the Medicare benefits. Private insurance companies develop their Advantage plans to make money. If the concept was a failure, the private insurers would have discontinued all the Advantage Plans.
Another government program to help seniors is the Part D Prescription Drug Plans (PDP). Approved in 2003, PDP’s are almost entirely operated by private insurance companies, there is no government option. These private companies make money even with all the government bureaucratic regulations. Let’s not forget that the PDP program is a completely unfunded mandate on the general fund. The Federal government will continue to subsidize participants in PDP’s with out any offsetting tax revenue like a Medicare tax.
An added bonus for the pharmaceutical companies is a steady stream of consumers for their products. It is far easier for a senior to start and maintain a drug regimen prescribed by his or her doctor because of the subsidized costs.
What could be better than having the government subsidize your consumer’s purchase of your product? It’s a dream come true. Plus, the government tells seniors they have to find a PDP to be enrolled in or face penalties. Where is the cry of forced government participation in a government program from the foes of healthcare reform?
Which brings me to the point of the constitutionality of the individual mandate within the PPACA; if you believe the individual mandate is unconstitutional, where are the challenges to the Medicare tax? Medicare taxes we pay go to support current Medicare beneficiaries. This is tantamount to paying for someone elses car insurance with the promise that you’ll get subsidized auto insurance when you turn 65. Is this constitutional?
The PPACA set up the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIP) to be administered by the Federal government or states. Central for eligibility is that the applicant must have been without insurance for 6 months and been declined by a private insurer. These provisions were set up to give private insurer’s first crack at the business. Of course, they get to deny the health risks they don’t want and push potentially money losing members onto the subsidized PCIP program.
Under the ACA, the states are required to set up health insurance exchanges to facilitate matching the uninsured with a private insurance company. So now we have the Federal government acting like a marketing arm of the insurance companies.
So let’s review. Under healthcare reform legislation private insurance companies have the government helping them market their product through exchanges, mandates that consumers must select one of their plans and subsidizes consumer purchases for those who can’t afford it. Wow, could life get any better for an insurance company? In addition, all these new members will generate revenue for doctors, hospitals, labs, and outpatient facilities. Excuse me while I go buy stock in some of the healthcare providers and insurers.
Far from a government take-over of healthcare, I am seeing collusion between government and private industry to funnel consumers to their products and support their revenue streams and profits. It looks like healthcare reform is supporting American business in a big way.
