Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., poses with two future cabinet members on a campaign swing in her quest for Democratic presidential nominee.
Some people may think Hillary Clinton is on the right track with her new health care plan which would require all Americans to have health insurance. I am not one of those people.
First of all, too little specificity is out there about how such a plan would operate and more importantly so is the question of what happens to those who would inevitably fall through the cracks.
Under the Clinton plan the cost of health insurance would be on a percentage of income. That makes me wonder, what percentage might that be?
Requiring health insurance is reminiscent of being required to carry liability on your automobile. Some people can’t afford the mainstream companies so they have to rely on companies who offer cheaper coverage but who knows just how those carriers would react if you actually had an accident and had to rely on that coverage.
And what would become of my coverage? I receive health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. But the closest VA hospital is 90 miles away so if I have to go to the emergency room I must go to a private hospital and the VA will only pay under certain circumstances. Usually, the VA will try to get out of paying for your ER visit. In the meantime, the hospital, the emergency physician, the radiologist and the cardiologist all are sending you bills or turning your account over to collection agencies while you either wait for the VA to pay or you appeal their decision. I am in the process of trying to get the VA to pay bills for three ER visits over the past two years. They have so far denied two of my claims and I have appealed those decisions.
So health insurance for everyone sounds good but so would presidential candidates saying, if they are elected, each adult will be given a million dollars and every kid would get a pony.
With the crop of presidential candidates on both sides, it seems I may once again have to write in Willie Nelson’s name on the ballot.