For Americans the “Insurance” Medicaid remains separate from the rest of the insurance system for which most working age Americans participate however in the future the plan from big government is to provide a structure where a smooth transition between Medicaid coverage and private health insurance companies by replacing replace both traditional Medicaid assistance and the tax preference for employer-paid health with defined contribution payments; this change would allow better coordination between both types of coverage by integrating coverage for the poorest and also providing choices to those with higher incomes.
The American people are just a divided as big government. Some say big government is the answer because with laws and regulations you can direct the system’s resources and enforce budgetary controls on health care providers.
Not all people agree with this however because when you ask government to regulate businesses you enforcing heavy handed regulation and coercion that will force many suppliers out of the business into a black market society or they will simply go out of business and the ability to get good health care will be lost.
As it stands right now the current tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance continues to be increasingly ineffective and the new “Cadillac tax” which won’t go into effect until a decade after enactment only creates more confusion; I’m wondering why the American government is not interested in creating a more even playing field for all purchasers?
As a starting point, we could move forward as a “universal coverage”, for in return every American household would get a tax credit for the sole purpose of using that money to purchase health insurance and health care services- any household that didn’t buy coverage would lose the entire value of the credit.
Bottom line, The government would be running a public program that sustains itself entirely from the government’s fixed contribution and beneficiary premiums, while meeting the same requirements applied to its private plan competitors, but for this to work in it’s entirety the physician, hospitals and other fee-for-service programs would need to stop imposing fees and join a network of providers will to use market value prices for services.
Can this be done? Time will only tell, with elections in full swing health care will continue to be a hot topic and one the American public should keep a keen eye out for potential changes that will effect you and I today and for our future.