HCR Passes

[Morrigoon]

There's one aspect of the bill that I know is intended to help people, but I don't think should have been put it - the no co-pays bit. Copays for many insurance plans are modest enough that they function less to reduce the insurance company's burden on that visit, than they do to discourage gratuitous visitation by overprotective parents and hypochondriacs.

A good compromise would have been setting limits on copays but still allowing them. A modest $10 or $20 copay would make office visits accessible to pretty much everyone but discourage people from visiting every time they get a headache.

I'd also like to see pharmacists empowered to do more. Perhaps release certain medications to a near-OTC situation where a pharmacist can clear a patient to receive it without having to wait for a doctor's visit. Medication for UTI and bladder infections, for example.

Oh a side note, it occurred to me to wonder about this: For those folks who have gotten a "prescription" for certain "herbal" remedies... would the prescription coverage now be required to cover people's access to pot? How odd would THAT be!