My Constitutional Amendment: NO PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS
I read an article in the Boston Globe by David A. Lieb, reporting that in several states there is a movement to place on the November ballot, a constitutional amendment to create a "state based right for people to pay medical bills from their own pocketbooks and would prohibit penalties against those who refuse to carry health insurance." I asked myself, " Do I live in a parallel universe or on a different planet?" Would this amendment mean my clients who are left with thousands of dollars of medical bills have the right to pay them and perhaps file for bankruptcy? Does this also mean the person who is denied insurance because of pre existing conditions and has a recurrence of a cancer now has the constitutional right to pay their bills? Is this bill being supported by the insurance lobby?
The article stated the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) was driving this movement. I read the information on their website and found it well presented yet inaccurate in places. One of the premises for an amendment is to stop any single payer system. Their premise reads:
Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship
"ALEC's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act ensures a person's right to pay directly for medical care. Single-payer systems, like in Canada, make it illegal for citizens to go outside the government's health care plan and contract for their own medical services. Cost overruns require most single-payer plans to restrict patient choices, and instead mandate an "evidence-based" treatment schedule that standardizes care." (taken from ALEC website)
I am not going to discuss the single payer system but the premise that evidence based medicine already controls our health care.
This process already exists and it is called the insurance companies. One of the reasons I left private practice was because it was being controlled by the myth of evidence based medicine. Our care already is dictated by what the insurance companies deem medically necessary based on cost and evidence based medicine. It is an illusion to think that most doctors haven't bought into this. It is the standard in medical care now. Evidence based medicine translates into : thinking outside the box means no reimbursement and patient pays. There is always a third person in the room with the doctor and patient , the insurance company. How many people can afford a treatment not covered by health insurance? Very few and many die because the treatment is unreachable financially.
ALEC also wants states to allow citizens to buy healthcare across state lines. Great idea and would agree if ALEC could guarantee it was not considered out of network. Yes let's have more insurance options with lower premiums. The problem is all the options allow insurance companies to exclude for pre existing conditions and drop people if costs are too high. Why can't ALEC get on board with no pre existing conditions? Perhaps there would be less uninsured if insurance companies couldn't deny people coverage because they had been sick.
I would like ALEC to do the research or talk to people like myself who daily are trying to secure health insurance or negotiate medical bills or get an insurance company to pay for a much needed procedure that every doctor agrees is necessary. What relief will an amendment give to any American to relieve increasing premiums or being denied for pre existing conditions or have thousands of dollars of medical bills? I want an amendment that reads NO PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS and NO DROPPING PEOPLE FOR BEING SICK!
Posted by HealthCare Whisperer at 2/2/2010 10:23 AM 
Categories: constitutional amendment, pre existing conditions, evidence based medicine
Tags: medical doctors insurance pre existing conditions evidence based medicine
Categories: constitutional amendment, pre existing conditions, evidence based medicine
Tags: medical doctors insurance pre existing conditions evidence based medicine
Comments