Carla Hoffkins
October 8, 2011
HCA 255
Kimberely Keith Louisiana has been plagued with a lot of problems. Our current governor, who is Bobby Jindal, lost the previous election to Kathleen Blanco. Kathleen Blanco was one of the state’s worst governors. She was governor when Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana coast. Jindal was able to win after Blanco’s disastrous term as governor. He also was able to cinch the election with the promise of an overhaul of the state’s health care system. Governor Jindal is trying to unite the health care system so that it is no longer a fragmented system. He believes that our health care system is fragmented; there is nothing to link any aspect of the health care system together. There are so many people that have no insurance, because they are falling through the cracks of the health care system. The uninsured either make too much money to qualify for the programs that they need and make too little to be able to afford any kind of health insurance coverage. My problem with Jindal’s proposal is that I believe it does not go into enough detail. When President Clinton was trying to pass his health care reform, there was a lot of information that we could research. While researching Governor Jindal’s position he only talked about three areas to change the whole policy. I went to about five websites and most of them said the same thing over and over. The state of Louisiana passed Jindal’s Health Care Reform Act in 2007. In November of 2008, our administration offered the “Louisiana Health First” plan to implement the plan. (Jindal) It is still awaiting implementation due to it needing a federal waiver to operate outside of the Medicaid rules. (Jindal) Jindal states in his talks about what he wants for his health care reform “We need a system where individuals choose an integrated plan that adopts the best disease-management practices as opposed to fragmented care. Pricing and outcomes data for all tests, treatments and procedures should be posted on the Internet. Portable electronic health-care records can reduce paperwork, duplication and errors, while also empowering consumer to seek the provider that best meets their needs. Aligned consumer interests. Consumers should be financially invested in better health decisions through health-savings accounts, lower premiums and reduced cost sharing. If they seek care in cost-effective settings, comply with medical regimens preventive care and lifestyles that reduce the likelihood of chronic disease, they should share in the savings.” (Moore, 2009) Governor Jindal’s health care reform breaks down into three areas. The first is that it believes in voluntary purchasing tools. This means that we have the choice of different coverage options and that insurers will still be able to compete for consumers. It will allow for us to choose the plan and coverage that we need while making it affordable. The competition in between the insurers will allow us to keep the costs down for health care coverage. Second, is its portability which means that the governor wants a person to be able to take their health coverage from one employer to the next employer. This is important since job security is no longer there for us. We can take the coverage from job to job without lapses in insurance. The lapses in coverage are what is making the existing conditions so bad. When we change jobs our health insurance is lost and we start over with a new company and have to wait again for any pre-existing problems that we have to clear so that we can get covered by the insurance. And thirdly, he believes in a refundable tax credit. For this part, the tax credit will help those who need help by offsetting the costs by redirecting existing spending, not new spending. (Owcharento, 2009) There is also a belief in a health care spending account, this is where we put a pre-tax amount in an account in case it is needed for deductibles or balances from procedures of services received. Jindal wants Congress to implement simple guidelines to make the health care policies more portable that will allow better coverage for existing illness and/or conditions. Existing illnesses or conditions are excluded for coverage anywhere from six months to a year, depending on the policy. The governor also believes in “Reinsurance, high-risk pools, and other mechanisms can reduce the dangers of adverse risk selection and the incentive to avoid covering the sick.” (Gardner, 2009) The sick need to be able to receive health coverage even though it may be costly. We all deserve some sort of coverage. Another important point of the proposal is to improve care by offering patients a network of “medical homes” managed by the patient’s primary care physician to streamline care from doctors, specialists and hospitals. (Jindal) He also wants to require that medical records be stored electronically. (Jindal) Jindal believes that if records are stored electronically it will reduce procedures, treatments and medical errors. When records are kept for a doctor to access, it will reduce errors from medication reactions. Like Jindal says it will decrease the need or treatments and procedures being repeated. The insurance companies will save on paying for services already performed if the doctor has access to tests already performed. So often we have no record of what was done or if we do, then what did work or not work for the patient. This will help in trying treatments that have already been tried and that do not work. There are a couple of countries that have a credit card that holds in it all the information that a physician may need concerning the patient. Since they use this recorded information, doctors can see what medications that the patient is allergic to and if treatments have already been done and did they work for the patient. Some doctors like to repeat tests to see if they get the same results, but it is at the cost of the patient. The politicians are using the health care reform to get elected. We are so interested in the politician that talks about the health care reforms that we need. But we are turned off when he suggests that we should all take part in the solution of some sort of universal health care system. While Governor Jindal is awaiting the passing of his legislation, the country is in shambles with so many people being uninsured. If Louisiana is so close to making adjustments, why is the country so far away? Is it because too many people have a say and no one can agree on anything? Our country needs to find a way to work towards a reform of the health care system. Not everyone is going to be happy with what the solution will be with our health care crisis. We need to stop waiting and implement some kind of solution for the better of the people. If what we come up with does not work than we can try something else? But we cannot even agree to start anywhere. We have to come up with solutions to make insurance coverage accessible to everyone. Jindal’s big thing is he wants to reduce the mandates that the government has and to allow the people real choices between the coverage received, the deductible, etc. (Moore, 2009) The decrease in government mandates may be what the president needs to implement in his health care reform. It seems that the reforms are not passing because the American people believe that the government will be too involved. Hopefully the country may take into consideration what we are trying to do. Our governor has talked about running for president so this may be something the whole country will be made aware of.

Owcharenko, N. October 6, 2009. Governor Jindal’s challenge to Washington: let’s get together and do health reform right? Retrieved from http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/06/governor-jindals-challenge-to-washington-lets-get-together-and-do-health-care-right/
Gardner, R. July 22, 2009. Governor Jindal’s health care proposal. Retrieved from http://www.phillyimc.org/en/governor-jindals-health-care-proposal
Article titled Bobby Jindal. Retrieved from http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Bobby_Jindal
More, C. July 22, 2009. LA Governor Bobby Jindal proposes alternative health care plan. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/law-and-politics-national/la-gov-bobby-jindal-proposes-alternative-health-care-plan