One Trillion Dollars: Where will it come from? 

Health insurance reform, the big issue of the day, is slated to cost over one trillion dollars (to provide coverage for more Americans and address many of the problems inherent in the current system). Where is that money coming from—are we setting ourselves up for higher taxes merely to save pennies on health insurance?

Right now, one of the biggest issues in health care is the amount of money spent on insurance company subsidies. One of the plans being discussed presently would save $177 billion in these subsidies over the next decade. The argument being advanced is that by cutting and reducing these subsidies, money could be better spent on actual care for patients.

Money will also be help on improving preventative care, increasing technology within the health care system (ie, computerizing more records to better track patient care and monitor test resuts, previous procedures, etc), and working to reduce waste within the system (hospitals and outpatient procedures, first and foremost).

The difficulty is in the initial outlay of $100 billion being spoken of to provide the initial reforms…which will supposedly be offset by the savings in subsidies, for example. But there is no guarantee that over ten years those insurance subsidies will be effectively cut there is a history of planning for these types of cash inflows only to see the money go out, while the expenses remain the same. The insurance lobby (extremely powerful and in control of a great amount of money, by definition) will obviously fight strenuously to keep these subsidies, or at least a portion of them, and will have valid reasons for some of the subsidies to remain. Will Congress really be able to take them on and shut down the subsidies to reclaim that $100 billion?

Also, planning to recoup millions by eliminating waste in the system is a good goal (and certainly, improving technology will lead to an advance in patient care)—but assigning dollar figures to an elimination of “waste” is a tricky concept.

Overall, there is  not doubt that the health care system needs to be fixed; it’s just important to think through both sides of the argument. Relying on future savings and promised cuts to subsidies is a fairly optimistic way to pay for a trillion dollar bill. 

In the meantime Florida health insurance and Florida pubic assistance plans can be found at our Florida health insurance website. ECHealthInsurance.com donates much of its time to make health insurance available to those that don't qualify for private plans. Please support us in our efforts in bringing reform and awareness to the Florida health insurance reform issue.

Meghan McCartan

www.ECHealthInsurance.com writing staff your Florida health insurance broker