Regarding Health Care Reform

Regarding Health Care Reform:

Health insurance should be privatized, it should be purchased in the same manner as auto and homeowners insurance. When the free market takes over the cost will come down and more options will be available.

Health Insurance should not be provided through your employer: This places a burden small businesses; A business that does not have many employees will have to pay more for insurance coverage per person. Many small companies must chose between hiring more people and providing insurance for those people they currently employ.
On the other hand some large companies take advantage of the system by hiring two part time employees rather than one full time employee as they are not required to insure part time employees
When Health care is provided as a “benefit” from an employer it usually comes after a probationary period, during which time the individual has no health insurance coverage and therefore can be a deterrent to an individual’s pursuit of better employment opportunities.

I would rather be paid a better wage and be responsible for my own health insurance than to have my insurance tied to my employment and have my employment options limited by the insurance system.

The governments only role in health care should be one of regulation. In fact, if the government was doing a proper job of regulation we would not have as serious of a problem as we are now facing.
An instance where government regulation should be implemented is on limiting the Insurance companies ability to set the price that they will pay for prescriptions and medical services. When a doctor or pharmacy agrees to accept insurance from a provider, they agree to the terms the insurance company sets, which include limits on how much they will pay for services. Wouldn’t it be nice to fill your gas tank and tell the station owner that although they charge $4.00/gallon you will give them $1.50 because it is what you consider to be reasonable and customary. The cost of the “savings” the insurance companies get from this policy is passed on to other consumers.
If the Federal government were to implement strict and fair guidelines on private health insurance, and provide assistance to those who cannot afford it on their own, we could all have decent medical care at a reasonable cost.
As far as having the federal government run our health care system, well just look at the deplorable state of the Veterans Administration. If the government can not provide adequate health care for the small percentage of our population that are veterans, how could we even consider having them run the operation of a nation wide health care program?!