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Why I Favor Individual Mandates
I believe strongly in individual mandates for health insurance, with subsidies for low-income people. I recognize that mandate enforcement is a big challenge, and, as we all know, even though automobile insurance is mandatory for those driving a car, there are a significant number of uninsured motorists.
While enforceable individual mandates will certainly contribute to the pool of money needed to provide affordable universal care, the main reason I believe that everyone should be required to purchase health insurance is that individuals who have and pay for health insurance, even in a nominal amount, feel a greater stake in taking care of their health and in the quality of the health care they receive. They focus on getting preventive screenings and immunizations. They take care of infectious diseases earlier and more aggressively, and they monitor what they spend more carefully.
With universal participation in health insurance programs, we also can reward those who take better care of themselves with lower health insurance premiums. Without mandatory health insurance, we are giving up a major tool for encouraging people to take better care of their health. I believe no one should be denied health insurance or be forced to pay more because of medical conditions over which they have no control. At the same time, we must reward good behaviors and penalize bad ones, particularly with respect to preventable chronic diseases.
By
Michael Critelli
|
July 7, 2009; 3:04 PM ET
| Category:
Health Care Reform
,
Prevention
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Posted by: Medstudent1106 | July 10, 2009 11:52 AM
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I completely agree with the points you made here! Getting people to take personal responsibility for their health (ie. diet, exercise, smoking, drinking) and taking preventative measures means less of a need for expensive and emergency procedures.
Critics of these reforms don't realize that in the end many people WILL become more responsible and overall, with time, the cost of healthcare in the country will go down for a major percentage of the population. It just takes time to make these personal changes in response to such a mandate and then see the effects on the personal state-of-health level and then the health of our economy in response.
Bravo Mr. Critelli...