Head-spinning over health care

I recently visited my doctor, complaining of some neck pain and stiffness.

After consultation, some x-rays and all that good stuff he told me that I was going to live and that the popping in my neck had to do with the fact that Eisenhower was President when I entered the world.

In other words, Uncle Arthur Itis had come to live with me and I had no choice but to take him in. That's a true story.

But I really wonder if that neck-popping is from getting older or it is just because my head has been spinning over the last few weeks.

And spinning. And spinning. And spi.... I think you get the idea.

Ironically, my noggin has been going round and around about insurance. More specifically, I am going round and around over the debate – if you can call it that – over what to do about the Affordable Care Act, which we commonly call “Obamacare.”

I will be the first to say I don't know all the answers to an incredibly complex issue. I am not about to try to offer any answers to that.

But I do have tons of questions. 

If the ACA is so great, why do my insurance premiums keep going up while what the company pays keeps going down?

First, I purchase my insurance through my employer and not on an Obamacare exchange. However, all health insurance was affected by the ACA. So with that disclaimer out of the way, let's proceed.

I can only go on my experience, but in January 2003, I had cochlear implant surgery on my left ear. The original bill was somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000. With insurance network negotiations, my deductible and co-pay, I forked over less than $500.

I had the same surgery on my right ear in January 2010. Same hospital. Same doctor. I am sure the cost had gone up some, so this time I paid a bit more, but less than $750.

And I am glad I did.

Last November, I had knee replacement surgery at a different hospital. The original bill was substantially less than my implants (my bill was about $70,000), yet my deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums were much more than the operations I underwent before the ACA became law. Make that MUCH MORE.

If the ACA was supposed to save me money, what happened? 

Why did we have a system in which some people could not get coverage before ACA?

Insurance companies are like any other business in that they exist to make a profit. That's so basic that it seems silly to be making that statement. Yet so many people seem to think they are some kind of philanthropic enterprise.

But with that out of the way, there is still a question about why some people could not get coverage before ACA? I was in the insurance business for 10 years and grappled with that question almost daily.

I have enormous empathy for those who are born with medical issues or have acquired them through no fault of their own. That is the one aspect of ACA that is working as it should.

Why should anyone be forced to buy health insurance?

That is at the heart of the ACA. Everyone has to buy or pay a penalty.

Why?

From my corner of the world, it is foolish to not have health insurance, but when did our government get in the business of legislating what anyone buys or does not buy? That I just do not understand.

While we would disagree on theological reasoning, there are religious groups and individuals who shun any form of insurance, saying that God will take care of them. Doesn't the First Amendment say that the government shall “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof?”

What about the person who simply does not want insurance, crazy or not? Do others' rights supersede his?

Really, where is freedom of choice? A mandate to buy a product? In America?

(I am often amused by supporters of the ACA who argue, “You have to buy car insurance and home insurance.” Last time I checked, one did not have to purchase a car to live in America. He can walk, take the bus or ride a bike if he so chooses. Nor is anyone compelled to buy a house. When ACA became law, it made purchasing a product a requirement for living in this country.)

Why is common sense in short supply?

I vividly recall a “discussion” concerning the rising costs of insurance and how the ACA would cause major hardship on those trying to pay the exorbitant premiums. The answer would have been comical if the person was not so serious.

“There are government subsidies to help people with that,” he said.

Uh.... the United States is nearly $20 trillion in the hole. Make that 20 and 12 zeroes.

It's like getting a loan from a bankrupt relative.

Really?

And why could no one get anything done to fix this mess?

You can blame the Republicans or you can blame the Democrats for hurriedly getting something before Congress or a failure to repeal or make meaningful revisions.

The truth is that both sides seem more interested in political points than real solutions and both are to blame.

But it does not stop there. We have a populace that has gotten so accustomed nursing from the government that we might have reached a dilemma with no plausible solution.

To me, that's the scary part of the equation. There really are no answers for real questions from real people.

It just gives us more head-spinning.