Contimplating healthcare

After exploring so many different options about healthcare reform I tend to look at the National Healthcare system in a new ways which explore many different options.  If I place myself in a position that you look at what options are amongst us now, we may be able to create a better path to our future healthcare needs.  I have found that without reform there is no chance of covering our most indigent. Also I realized that the resources that are around are not sufficient in providing suitable care for our sick and most needy individuals.  I have concluded that healthcare can be persuaded to go into a negative or positive direction depending on who is in charge of this program.  With the sources I had, I feel like I am still sitting in the middle with the ever changing clauses and new rulings that take effect daily.  We will have to rely on our government to make better plans for our insurance and we will have to look at the revolving doors of healthcare reform to ground our hopes for a better system than we have now.  I believe that our governments goals are to make America stronger although it sways back and forth in its commitment to those that are the neediest. 

As I continue to research the changes and the allotted plans that are being formed, I am not sure that what I thought was strengths could be portrayed as weaknesses.   I believe our goal is to set more positives than negatives but still look at the end result of covering all Americans.  I don’t have all the answers and there will be multiple rules and regulations so consumers won’t fall through the cracks but being confident that our government makes wise choices that will affect us long term. I still want to do more research on what is available and how the government is going to handle the effects of the uninsured person.  I want to be able to find out the cost for our Americans.  I want to seek what is best and know that sharing resources and putting this valuable information into America’s hands instead of hiding it away is the way that we will bond together to make this new system work. I am struggling with the knowing that, there has been resources at our fingertips all along but it takes so much for the average person to explore, as so many should be covered that aren’t.   Many are eligible to be covered by our insurance system although the knowledge is not there for us as society to find.  I haven’t found that Medicare and Medicaid are not the only programs that can help with our health.  We need to strive to find more resources and more managed care systems that will help us and not hinder our new plans.

As I look toward the argument essay, I’m still thinking about what kind of coverage is out there now and what care will be there in the near future.  I want to keep in mind that this is playing with people’s lives and not just a number game.  I want to know that even when you have worked so hard to find what people need or want in the end we don’t have many choices of what will happen but we can be a part the bigger plan.

CICP

As there is so much out there in forms of government run healthcare why should we change the way we look at America?  You look at the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) which is a fund set up by the state and federal government to help supplement the uninsured, low income people in the state. Where do we find this program?  What does it cover?  Why is this important? There are many facilities that are coordinated with this program although many people have a hard time excepting this help.  This program offers people a sliding scale fee program that will help some get coverage with their basic needs like inpatient hospital care, primary care and prescription drugs. This appears to be straight forward but there are still many questions about how this program is run. According to the chart, CICP Maximum Income Guidelines for 2012, you can infer the gross annual income of the complete family, setting the guidelines for how much you can make while still qualify for CICP.

CICP Maximum Income Guidelines for 2012
Family Size	Annual Income	Monthly Income
1	$27,225	$2,269
2	$36,775	$3,065
3	$46,325	$3,860
4	$55,875	$4,656

Maybe if we looked at what government offers now we can learn by what corruption is out there.  Look at Medicaid and Medicare and how poorly they are run.  People are always complaining that they don’t have enough doctors and hospitals that serve these plans.  People are always complaining that their medications are too expensive.  So what are we to look forward to in this new health care system?  Will we be in the same shape that we are in now not being able to afford the premiums, the copayments or our basics to keep ourselves healthy?  What is going to happen to the seniors that are too old to be served or just too expensive to keep them healthy?  There are so many questions and so many unanswered ideas of where to go and where we have come from.  Are we going to learn from other governments mistakes or make bigger ones ourselves?  We have a lot of knowledge going in as we are able to learn from our predecessors but are we willing to be open minded in finding out where we should be or will we let pride come into it? 

Works Cited



 CICP Maximum Income Guidelines for 2012. 2012. Chart. colorado.gov, Denver. Web. 16 Jul 2012.

Prices of Medicaid

Just when you think you have figured out the latest news in healthcare you find that more and more changes occur every day.   When you plan on retire ring you think that the golden age is 65 with an added benefit of Medicare.  Great coverage, a small monetary value and freedom to retire and live a life of luxury, then you are hit with the realization that there are things that are small discrepancies, which will affect your complete retirement package. 


As I started digging in to the Wall Street Journal I discovered a bit of unexpected news.  Ellen E. Schultz, writer for the Wall Street Journal, tells Americans how much Medicare costs depending on how long you are part of Medicare in her article, "How to Avoid Medicare Land Mines": “Medicare Part A, which carries no premium, is hospital insurance. It has a deductible of $1,156 that covers hospital stays up to 60 days, copayments of $289 a day for days 61-90, and copayments of $578 a day for days 91 to 150 days” (Schultz). With a fixed income how can America afford such steep coverage?  Then move on to the part B plan of Medicare which covers the medications, doctors, lab test and outpatient care.  This is a $99 premium every month for those that make under $214,000 a year then their deductible can be as high as $319.70 per month.  When does Americans catch a break?  You then happen upon the part D plan of Medicare which may start with a little premium but works up a huge bill when they hit the donut hole.  Is this the plan that America thinks is so great?  I believe that there isn’t enough money every month to make ends meet, as we all realize with growing inflation.  (Schultz)

Colorado

	Monthly Income Guidelines1		Asset Guidelines2
Program	Individual	Couple	Individual	Couple
QMB	$928	$1,246	$6,680	$10,020
SLMB	$1,109	$1,491	$6,680	$10,020
QI	$1,246	$1,675	$6,680	$10,020

Chart from Medicare Interaction

Let’s look at how our government is supplementing the public with a little break.  How do we even know where to begin when the government doesn’t tell us?  What is the coverage?  What are we going to need to learn to provide a better more inexpensive solution?  I fell upon a site from the state those talks about Medicare Savings Program.  There is an income guideline which a very few will ever qualify for.  This simply means that if you are married or a single individual the government is willing to pay your $99 premium so that it won’t be such a hardship on those that are low income.  What is our government thinking with such small amounts?  Could you imagine with all the other payments that our seniors are paying how they can be troubled with the decision if it is best to go to the doctor or eat?  Should we even ask why we are so grateful that we have national healthcare?

Works cited

Medicare in Colorado. 2011. Chart. Medicare Interactive, Colorado

Schultz, Ellen E. "How to Avoid Medicare Land Mines." Wall Street Journal [New York] 13 Jul 2012, n. pag. Web. 14 Jul. 2012.

Politics within the Health care Law

Philip Scott Andrews, a journalist for the New York Times, stats how people in America will gain coverage when the health care plan fully develops over the country in his article "Health Care Reform": “The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 23 million uninsured people will gain coverage through exchanges and that all but five million of them will qualify for subsidies, averaging more than $6,000 a year per person. Subsidies, in the form of tax credits, will be available to people with incomes from the poverty level up to four times that amount ($23,050 to $92,200 for a family of four)” (Andrews)

Why is it that when we work it is mandatory that we either take the coverage our employers give us or we have to prove that we have coverage through a different coverage? The employer doesn’t question the quality of the insurance or what it might or might not cover over all. How will we know what type of insurance the government is going to offer as we see how Medicare coverage affects us? How can 23 million people not be covered now that Medicaid and Medicare has enveloped so many people. $6000 per person the federal government is willing to give in a form of tax credits for poverty level families. It is amazing to me that for a house size of four that we as Americans can’t afford to live on $92,000 a year. How does the government expect us to buy insurance before the tax credits? Will this amount be given back to us through our employers or is the first year that the insurance coverage is due do the American citizens take the hit on the taxes so they can afford the rigorous monthly amount? How can we let congress make us shift in our seats when they can’t even decide how people are going to be covered? 



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Picture created by illusrationsof.com
commemorating health care.

Kerry Harron, a writer for Forbes magazine, shows the Ameican people about the amount of money a house can bring in and still be on medicaid in her article, "The Best Ways To Find Health Insurance if You Are Self-Employed In 2012":“A Towers Watson survey of 552 of the nation’s largest employers found that retirees under age 65 pay an average of $633 per month for individual coverage and $1,633 monthly for family coverage. Current employees with similar coverage were paying $432 and $1,249.Your spouse will pay a higher premium for family coverage, but it will still be less than an individual policy. Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage increased to $15,073 ($5,429 for single coverage) last year, up 9% from 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust. On average, workers pay $4,129 and employers pay $10,944 toward those annual premiums” (Hannon).

With all the expense that healthcare are providing it seems outrageous to believe that any American can afford these steep premiums. Will it come a time when we stop going to the doctors because we can’t afford the premiums and then we won’t be able to afford the copayments that come with the plans. I know understand how the family plans appear to be a greater savings but for the low budget plans will the copayments be out of reach for the working families? Will this spiral into a time where more people get sick and no one is listening? Are we just going to turn a blind eye at what is going on and never look up to see the truth?

Works Cited

Andrews, Philips Scott. "Health Care Reform." New York Times [New York] 08 Jul 2012, n. pag. Web. 9 Jul. 2012.

Hannon, Kerry. "The Best Ways To Find Health Insurance if You Are Self-Employed In 2012." Forbes. 01 Jan 2012: n. page. Web. 9 Jul. 2012.

10080-royalty-free-dollar-sign. N.d. Photograph. illustrationof.com

Discovering our health care!!!

From Catholicvote.com: the formal
 sign for healthcare

Have you ever thought about heath care and what the effects it is going to have on us?  Health care has become a national topic these days and the implications appear to be damaging.  You look at the financial portion of this bill, and we have spent two years paying for something that hasn’t even happened.  What are American’s going to do with the constant rise in health care, which we can’t afford now?  There are times that we have taken on different objectives but we raised taxes or we implemented a payer source, this hasn’t even been thought of.  Health care costs have rapidly been rising each year to pay for less coverage.  Will we have to limit the insurance carrier’s amount they can charge us that are not able to afford the minimum requirements?  Even some of the unions which carry all workers and their families for little are planning on giving this one benefit to the state and they will supplement the cost.  What is happening with our Medicare?  What about Medicaid? These are poorly ran systems that are going to govern our health.  Our seniors are not able to cover their 99 dollar Medicare premium just to get the basic coverage then they will pay for either a supplemental plan or a drug plan which are above the premium costs that we pay monthly.  You then look at the hospitals with few beds for the sick, but they can’t wait to push you onto another facility, even when you are still at our most critical statuses.  Where is our health care going?  What are we going to do about the future in health care?  What is going to happen with our drug coverage?  What is going to happen with our emergency rooms?  What is going to happen with our urgent care?  What is going to happen with our premiums for coverage?  What is going to happen with our destitute?  What is going to happen to happen with our children? 

Jonic's view of Congress

I believe that health care matters, as there are so many obstacles that we face between long term illnesses and accidents, there needs to be solvable solution to make sure that all American’s are covered for life.  I am hoping to get a lot of feedback from you all about this subject but as I will research this issue in the coming days on the Internet and newspaper, this has become my passion on saving our health care system.

Works Cited

Jonic. Congress. N.d. Photograph. healthcare-now.org The Authority for Health Care. 2012. Photograph. Catholicvote.org

Hi.  I’m Mary.  I am a native to Colorado and can’t think of anywhere else I would want to live.  I love the four seasons and even at the extreme elements that we live with. There is always worse places to be at that moment. I am married and have two children, both in college.  I’ve found it is hard going back to school after being out for so long but I feel like this is the only way I will be able to communicate with them in the future.