Drugwonks is all in favor of expanding health care coverage by giving people money to choose among competing plans (would it be that the competition was national but that's for another time). The Massachusetts approach makes sense in this respect. Unfortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to cover California's uninsured by dumping them into Medicaid will be a disaster. We already have a recipe for failure: it's the State Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP. Only 50 percent of all kids are enrolled in that program nationwide and have been since it's inception since 1997. One reason: most parents think of it as welfare. Also, lots of good docs have left the program, particularly in California where reimbursement rates are pathetically low.
Why didn't the governor take a more market driven approach that treats the uninsured like consumers instead of welfare recipients.
Arnold should send his Medicaid plan back for a rewrite.
Why didn't the governor take a more market driven approach that treats the uninsured like consumers instead of welfare recipients.
Arnold should send his Medicaid plan back for a rewrite.
