Health Care Providers Lobbying For Their Customers
The term “Medicaid issues” is rather vague, and you can let your fingers do the walking online if you are wanting to learn more about Medicaid plans. Medicare Advantage, however, is more specific. These are health insurance plans that are a part of the Medicare program, and they include things like:
- Medicare Health Maintenance Organization (HMOs)
- Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)
- Private Fee-for-Service Plans
- Medicare Special Needs Plans
The interesting thing is that these plans do exist and are available under Medicare, so it is only my educated guess that Health Net was lobbying to reduce restrictions here as well, possibly opening the doors to more potential members and not barring people for health issues.
Considering that Medicare is intended to provide health care to our elderly population, trying to keep people from getting health coverage based on preexisting medical conditions is pretty absurd. You show me one 75 year old who has made it that far in life without bringing any medical baggage along with them and I’ll buy you a cookie.
Fighting for Those Who Fought for Us
Health Net also operates a subsidiary called Tricare, which is the government operations division, providing managed care for military families as well as government agencies. The insurer spent a little less than half of the $670K speaking out on issues around veteran’s health and the Department of Defense’s health care program for military members and their families.
To give a fair and objective opinion here, I’ll first say that it is admirable that Health Net is taking a strong stand for better care for those who served our country. On the other side of the coin, they were the first company in the United States to develop such a health care plan serving this demographic, and it is definitely in their best interest to make sure that the best in health care plan for military members and their families are available. They would not keep getting members to join and purchase plans if they didn’t make things happen for them. But, who can blame them? If I operated any type of company, I would have my customer’s best interests at heart but my own profits wouldn’t take a backseat either.
How Does Health Lobbying Help Consumers?
The bottom line for so many consumers is: what’s in it for me? Especially in the sometimes devious world buying/selling a product or service, you always want to be aware of how a company’s actions translate into better service or products for you. In this instance, Health Net’s lobbying, should it pay off, can help them in becoming a better-rounded health care provider, as well as being a port in the storm for people battling things like breast cancer or a mental health illness. If you or a loved one falls into this category, you may even want to participate in the insurer’s efforts to make more types of coverage widely available.
Health Net’s actions are hand-in-hand with the country’s hopeful progression toward a more consumer-friendly model of health insurance, and I wish that other insurance companies would follow their lead and start opening their arms just a bit wider to give the best care possible to people when they need it the most.
photo credit: MattJhsn
Tags: breast cancer, health and politics, health care, health care lobbying, health care providers, health care spending, health insurance industry, pre-existing conditions, special insurance topics, veteran health coverage
