My Health Care Expertise

Tiering The Government - Matt Yglesias

Yglesias hits on a salient element of government run health care and health insurance--the coverage of such insurance is rarely, if ever, mentioned. Now I'm a believer in the need for universal health coverage (whether that's mandated or not is very debatable to me) but when I envision universal coverage I expect the kind of coverage that the average white, middle-class family would require. Of course catastrophic coverage is necessary but so is the yearly physical, the cost of blood work, the emergency visit for the flu or whatnot. Additionally, there's medication coverage such as psychological meds, blood pressure meds, and many other kinds of conditions that require the use of medication to maintain good health. So what would this kind of coverage cost; the kind of coverage that is actually useful?
Second to the issue of average cost is that of unnecessary medical procedures and how government coverage must avoid letting such procedure make it into the average coverage plan. The problem becomes part bureaucratic and part class. While listing all of the things that one should expect from universal health care we also need to have an exclusionary list--a clear list of those things not covered. However, universal coverage should not prevent those in the upper classes from using their wealth to expand their own coverage. The class issue is tangled up with the free market issue. How can we maintain a market-driven healthcare system while letting the federal or state government cover the costs of average health insurance?
I would like to note though, that whatever solution is proffered, it must take the burden off of businesses to offer health care to its employees. By doing so, many small and middle-sized companies will reap huge benefits while large corporations will have one less issue to argue over with the unions.
Of course, I do have to mention that I have no real understanding of all the details on health care and the proposals for universal health care. I just believe in it in principle and think there are practical ways of achieving it without breaking the government bank.