Health Care

2008-09-05T03:16:00.001-07:00

Health CareThe issue of health care is both delicate to the candidate, but equally important to the general public. As many people do, I also feel that the current state of health care in this country has serious problems.
I consider the current health care system to be a restricted market. I mean that the insurance industry as whole is a group of profit-seeking firms, and consumers don’t have a free choice to switch between market alternatives.
I have been reading the Governors blue ribbon commission report. I do agree in principle in the report and its findings. I also give credit to those who spent their time to create it. At the same time, I feel there needs to be more direction as to which path to go to resolve the problem at hand.
The report gave a idea, which I agree with. Any legislation needs to encompass three principles and they all need to work together. These include Access, Quality, and be cost effective.
COST
Different ways to cut cost include :  Cutting back on regulations and mandates : to do this we need to cut some state imposed rules and restrictions such as requiring cancer screening or mental health benefits. However I feel that these two strike to close to home for to many people and will not be acceptable. Providing incentives for adopting healthy habits: an example would be to provide tax breaks and legal protection to employers who implement wellness programs. Capping administrative cost: it has been shown that that administrative costs are around 7.5% of the total health care costs in Colorado and they continue to rise.

Tom Dittemore

Health Care