Opinion
Mandated catastrophic coverage should be a key element of reform
LETTER — Posted July 20, 2009
I feel that meaningful health care reform for our country should entail mandated, universal, individual, catastrophic health insurance. Such a system would prevent the burden of the uninsured on our health care facilities, which is raising the cost of health care for everyone. It would help prevent personal bankruptcies due to unexpected health care costs.
It should be mandated to spread the base of insureds, reduce premiums and prevent risk to the insurance industry. Individual policies are portable. The above program would not prevent people or businesses from buying supplemental insurance.
The above system would require regulating the health insurance industry so that companies no longer could cherry-pick applicants or retroactively disqualify insured individuals. It would demand government help in paying premiums for economically disadvantaged individuals.
I would also like to see the development of a VA-type hospital and clinic system. We currently do not have the health care facilities to provide for another 47 million people. On a part-time basis, doctors could be obligated to provide coverage in clinics as a condition of their licensure. The clinics would provide routine and preventative care for poorer patients.
The above arrangement would not cost $1 trillion and would not have the same burden on taxpayers. It would provide far less direct government involvement than President Obama's public health care plan.
Leon E. Luck, MD, Westport, Conn.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/07/20/edlt0720.htm.
