Christopher Said:

High-risk health insurance pools,insurance coverage for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions?

We Answered:

Sounds like you want a paper.

Well, high risk health pools can be extremely expensive. They aren't intended for long term (most limit the lenght of time you can be in them, for a few years), AND, they still have a waiting period for preexisting conditions.

Not all states have them, because they have to be heavily subsidized by the taxpayer.

Because they are not self sustaining, they are NOT an effective tool of "health reform".

Darlene Said:

Could we slightly expand Medicare to cover people that are uninsurable due to pre-existing conditions?

We Answered:

No, but Medicaid could be expanded... Medicare could lower its age requirements, but it is absolutely stretched monetarily to the extreme, and all of it would result in higher taxes for all.
The obvious solution is to make the ones who already receive free healthcare more accountable for it. Volunteering, education, payback, all those are possible to benefit the beneficiaries and the provider (the government).
The amount of people who receive healthcare courtesy of the government and are fully capable of some sort of labor must, in my opinion, compensate for the benefit in some way.

Ruth Said:

Did anyone read the part about pre-existing conditions?

We Answered:

A lot of these people cannot read- so they just try to piece together words and sentences and then get frustrated and spew ignorance on the rest of the population...all while being steadily screwed by the insurance companies.

Delores Said:

What's the best way for an unemployed individual with pre-existing conditions to get health insurance?...?

We Answered:

Almost all policies will cover "preexisting conditions" as long as you have either been continuously insured or have had their plan for a while. So definitely take the time to read the fine print on independent insurance programs, and go to the websites of the manufactures of your drugs to see if they will give you your meds for free (if you're below the federal poverty level or unemployed, and have a health plan that won't cover your drugs most companies will provide them for you.)

Justin Said:

Who has a better idea for getting health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions?

We Answered:

I think it really depends on your priority. Both our political parties, it seems that their top priority is the profits of the handful of corporations that own our health care. Obama's plan, like Clinton's plan, like GHW Bush's plan, puts profits ahead of actual health care. Obama began his campaign promising he'd fight for a single payer plan, but later in the campaign, after accepting money from the health care companies, he changed his mind. He wasn't able to propose anything that might possibly hurt their profits.

The only real answer is public-funded single-payer insurance. Then everyone is covered, all in the same big pool. Some states have 'community pricing' (I think it's called) where insurance companies have to charge everyone the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions. That's fairer to people with pre-existing conditions, but you still have the problem of people waiting until they get sick before getting insurance. Which I agree is wrong.

There are enormous savings to be had in a single-payer system. All the countries that use this plan--Canada, France, Germany, Australia, etc.--get as good care as we do but pay about half what we do. It's just the most logical way to do it. Let insurance companies sell supplemental insurance for people who have to have a single room in the hospital or whose kids might need orthodontia or something.

When Republicans brag that we have 'the best health care system in the world', what they really mean is that our health care system generates the most profits. And the most political funding.

Lorraine Said:

How to get out of this 14 trillion dollar debt?

We Answered:

Dismantle the debt based Federal Reserve system that created it.

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