By a vote of 15-8, the Senate Finance Committee rejected amendments that would add a government run public health insurance plan to the committee’s health care legislation. Under this plan the government run option would inherit Medicare’s provider network and pay them based upon Medicare’s payment schedule over the first two years. Senator Rockfeller argued the public option is necessary to keep costs low and provide increased competition for private insurers, making affordable health insurance a reality.

A similar amendment creating a government run health insurance option, but paying providers based on negotiated rates rather than Medicare rates also failed by a vote of 13-10. This plan, introduced by Senator Schumer, accurately argued many health care providers complain that Medicare pays too little for routine medical procedures and hospital visits.

Several states offer few affordable health insurance options, mostly due to lack of competition among private insurance companies. However, the creation of a government run public health insurance option is not the only avenue through which competition can increase. The Finance Committee bill is the only version of the health care legislation that omits the public health insurance option in favor of devoting $6 billion to help start up health insurance co-operatives, which would be non-government entities that compete directly with private insurers.

Affordable health insurance is a reality for many Americans and can be discovered by shopping multiple health insurance companies and considering different plans. Thousands of people daily use health insurance plan finders such as the one at www.SafeHealthInsurance.com to view all health insurance plans offered. This can be a great way to shop all companies at one time and ensure you are saving as much money as possible.

Health Care Reform has been a prominent force in the news lately, but what does it really mean for you? This question can’t be answered with complete accuracy until congress approves legislation. However, all current proposals have some commonalities you should be aware of when considering purchasing affordable health insurance for you or your family. Read the rest of this entry »

Affordable health insurance for all Americans, including the 46 million uninsured and the 25 million under-insured, is the main goal of Obama’s healthcare reform. Creating a solution that reduces healthcare costs, enables everyone to get affordable health insurance, and still maintains a high quality of care has proven to be quite a daunting task. Over the past few months many ideas about how to improve our healthcare system have been discussed. Read the rest of this entry »