Affordable health coverage is in the eye of the beholder

Affordable health coverage is in the eye of the beholder

Don't expect to see a sudden drop in health insurance prices as a result of the enactment of the Health Reform Law of 2010. Our best hope at this time is that health insurance prices will start to stabilize. Although the 2,400 page law specifies a number of changes to health insurance policies and practices, the law is by no means a 'finished' product. At best, it's a broad guideline that opens a multiple lane highway leading to a health industry available to all citizens. Along the way, opportunities for experimentation will present themselves, including efforts to reduce costs, streamline administration, while increasing quality of health care. Still, efficient and effective procedures and processes have yet to be devised. Amendments are certain to be proposed. The law is recognized by economists and health care scientists as a first step, the beginning of what will be a somewhat long journey to universal, affordable health coverage for all Americans.

What's affordable health coverage? Affordable is a relative term. The rich can afford what the poor cannot. A poor family may be able to afford a used, stark naked Yugo, while a rich family can certainly afford the same automobile, but they can also afford a Mercedes, which the poor family cannot. Health care plans come in the same sorts of varieties as automobiles. Some offer basic medical and prescription benefits, (the Yugo of health care), while others are complete in coverage, providing maximum coverage, from chiropractic treatment to catastrophic illness coverage, replete with coverage for organ transplants, unlimited lifetime coverage with no cap, and VIP hospital rooms. Our personal family budget and the income we may reasonably expect to earn, thus becomes what is affordable for us. If you've got the money or expect to earn it, you can afford it.

The problem then is to buy an affordable health coverage plan that fulfills both our basic and specialized medical needs. The various insurance plans are 'packages', consisting of covered services. In choosing the package, naturally, you want it to consist of every possible service coverage - there's no telling what the future might bring but, each component raises your total cost. Getting every possible service naturally raises the price. The problem for you is to put together a package that will cover all the essentials and any special needs your health condition may require. Insurers put together packages for you to choose from. Look at several of them; remember, they are not all the same.

When you're young, a basic affordable health coverage plan will do, but as you age, more services will be required. As you get older, your income should increase, such that, what was not affordable when you were young, is affordable when you're older. Sit down with your chosen provider's agent and plan for the extensions you can expect to need as you age. The new law prohibits discrimination against the sick. A pre-existing condition no longer precludes you from getting the insurance you need to cover the treatment for a condition your policy did not cover. Waiting until a condition arises is not smart, however, because you can expect to pay higher rates Speak with your doctor about what he or she anticipates for your health, given your family history. Your doctor may be your best adviser.

Let us hope for and work towards bringing down the cost of medical insurance, but until then, if ever that day comes, your best bet is to get an affordable health coverage package that will cover conditions you can expect at each stage of your life. One delightful benefit of the new law is the promise of the nation to subsidize the poor who cannot afford insurance. Up to this point, people have been going bankrupt in their efforts to pay off medical bills their insurance didn't cover. If you are making less than $88,000 a year, the government will subsidize your health care. You no longer need to become destitute to stay healthy and alive. In this sense, affordable health coverage is available to everyone now.

Keep abreast of the ongoing changes to the law. Be involved. The law is a broad road towards universal health care coverage for everyone, but the vehicles to carry us to that goal are being built as we proceed. Perhaps, in time, the 'Mercedes' of health care packages will finally become affordable health coverage for everyone.