Is it just me or is there a simple common sense solution to the Veteran’s Affair disaster?
The President’s 2015 Budget includes $163.9 billion for VA in 2015.
Then use the VA’s number for vets: Call it 22 million.
Last, the average cost of insurance:
As of February 24, 2014, the average premium for an individual health plan selected through eHealth without a subsidy was $274 per month…
So, do the math.
$274 a month is $3,288. Across 22 million vets you get $75,000,000,000.
Double the price of the plan and you STILL are $14 billion to the good.
That’s one fascinating idea. I like it if there were a way to retain the level of care VA offers to wounded vets. By all accounts, that aspect of VA gets a high high rating.
I like it if there were a way to retain the level of care VA offers to wounded vets. By all accounts, that aspect of VA gets a high high rating.
One day I would like to see the data on quality. All I know is that I never wait for a doctor, get my calls answered almost right away and am very satisfied.
It probably is tired old Libertarian stuff – but it gets back to what the government does well. Running hospitals may not be one of those things.
Maybe it’s not just about gov’t vs private, but profit vs non-profit. By most measures, community non-profit hospitals outperform – in outcomes and cost – for-profit hospitals, especially the chain hospitals.
In some European countries, they’ve devised a unique way to insure people – companies that offer health insurance can only do so from a non-profit arm of their companies. The upside for the insurers is that many people like keeping everything with one insurer, so if they do well with the health part, it advantages their other lines of business. And of course, coverage is mandatory so that means a lot of potential customers out there. It’s an interesting model.