Nearly every page of what has been proposed thus far is filled with vaguely worded rhetoric and thinly veiled insults to an informed individual’s intelligence, new assaults on individual freedoms and privacy, and a gradual irreversible restriction of choice. No amount of “Uncle Sugar” can sweeten the tart truth. The SIN, as Herman Cain declared, August 24, 2009, is to: “Shift the argument, Ignore the facts, and engage in Name calling.” Sound familiar?
Where to start?
Tort reform. Tort law reformation would result in lower costs. Depending on location and specialty, a doctor, according to the Medical Liability Monitor, the national independent reference of rates & Medical Malpractice and Access to Health Care (and GAO-03-836) is now paying in excess of $174,000 for malpractice insurance annually. Then there are the excessive amount of tests required to protect, as best they can, against litigation. Tort reform has never been discussed, nor will it be, by the present administration as a viable option! At best it will only be given lip service. Each year hundreds of millions of dollars are contributed by lawyers to political campaigns. According to OpenSecrets.org, during the 2008 election cycle, $233,000,000 were contributed, 76% or $178,719,835 was contributed to the members of the Democrat Party. Currently the rate of contribution to the Democrat Party for the 2010 election cycle is 81%.
Buyer Choice. Presently, one is restricted to purchasing healthcare insurance or employer sponsored healthcare insurance within the confines of the state in which they reside or are employed. Each state also restricts which companies may do business within its boundaries. In addition, there are more than 1,250 individual governmental mandates, which apply and dictate what coverage must be provided in each state. These mandates vary widely in number and type by state and contribute “unintentionally” to the burden each consumer must bare. Choice to seek coverage across state lines and the degree of that coverage, from one of the more than 3,000 current providers, would be a start and should be a matter of individual choice.
Portability, carrying one’s coverage to another state, would also be a significant plus. Senator Barack H. Obama II (D-IL) voted against similar proposals while a member of the U.S. Senate. A single-payer system, a system Mr. Obama has continually advocated, will ostracize these options. The so-called public option is a steep slope to a single-payer system and a government-funded mandatory insurance cooperative, initially staffed by government representatives will do little to stand in for the best interests of its members.
Health Savings Accounts. An individual Healthcare Savings Account would be another beneficial area to explore. The restrictions and impediments on HSA’s and high-deductible insurance should be removed. Such an option would allow an individual to select a policy with a high deductible and provide tax-deductible money to pay out-of-pocket expenses, which would in turn lower the annual premium cost. An HSA remains the property of the individual, and as such, a part of that person’s estate.
Parity. Establish parity. Provide the individually owned health insurance plan and HSA with the same deductibility option an employer-provided healthcare plan enjoys. Under current proposals, the aforementioned options are not under consideration. And finally, allow employer-provide policies to be owned by the individual. This is currently against the law!
Transparency. Make medical costs transparent. The bill paid by a single-payer system, whether governmental or private, is seldom of interest to the consumer. Most consumers check a receipt from the grocery store closer than the receipt for governmental or insurance company paid medical expenses. When it is free, when we do not have “skin in the game”, the system will ultimately collapse under the pressure of demand. Hawaii, Oregon, and Massachusetts are current prime examples “universal” state-funded healthcare forays. New York, California, and many other states are not far behind having to fund and provide under-funded or unfunded federal mandates.
Fraud. Enact Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/SCHIP reform. The amount of fraud and waste annually, 10% up to 40%+ (New Your), is in the billions of dollars. The fraud-loss rate for MasterCard and Visa is only .0005% of the two billion dollars in transactions they processed this past year.
Enact realistic across-the-board premiums. In the case of Medicare, the government only collects about 57% of the premiums necessary to adequately fund currents programs; general revenues fund the remainder. It is expected that the amount of funding from general revenues will increase to 62% from the current 43% by 2030. To increase premiums, “they” believe, will cost them votes in the short run, but it will cost “us” and future generations more in the long run. “They”, the politicians, will have been reelected, retired, and deceased by time the piper comes to be paid.
All of the current healthcare proposals should be scrapped. Let’s try something unconventional and revolutionary, the Problem Solving Process. Why don’t we identify the “actual” problem(s), government intervention amongst them.
September 8, 2009
A Preview of National Healthcare, Part II
By Howard Manser
The King has no clothes, only a cloak. If the President wants to inspire confidence rather than subterfuge in his effort to confiscate one-sixth of this nation’s economy and place it and all of its workers and recipients under the direct control of an omnipotent government; he should start with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Veteran Administration’s healthcare systems. The BIA’s under-funded healthcare system designed “uniquely” for our Native Americans is an undisclosed scandal worthy of Upton Sinclair’s scrutiny. Administered with funds exhausted every fiscal year no later than June, once proud and self-reliant Americans do without even bare medical necessities. Their lives, controlled in every aspect, are a prelude to what we may expect under any type of government administered national healthcare system. Many suffer and many die in the process; swaddled, if you will, in yet another of a benevolent government’s blankets. The VA, steeped in bureaucracy and staffed by an ever-increasing number of qualified foreign-born doctors and nursing staff, has degenerated into little more than cattle herding. Of course, it is free to those who qualify. The provisions of current healthcare proposals and attrition do to predictable retirement will further exacerbate the doctor shortage, currently at 35,000.
Note: Their slow diagnosis of cancer in the cases of two of my friends, treated at by the VA, resulted in their deaths, within two months after a long awaited correct assessment.
By Howard Manser
The King has no clothes, only a cloak. If the President wants to inspire confidence rather than subterfuge in his effort to confiscate one-sixth of this nation’s economy and place it and all of its workers and recipients under the direct control of an omnipotent government; he should start with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Veteran Administration’s healthcare systems. The BIA’s under-funded healthcare system designed “uniquely” for our Native Americans is an undisclosed scandal worthy of Upton Sinclair’s scrutiny. Administered with funds exhausted every fiscal year no later than June, once proud and self-reliant Americans do without even bare medical necessities. Their lives, controlled in every aspect, are a prelude to what we may expect under any type of government administered national healthcare system. Many suffer and many die in the process; swaddled, if you will, in yet another of a benevolent government’s blankets. The VA, steeped in bureaucracy and staffed by an ever-increasing number of qualified foreign-born doctors and nursing staff, has degenerated into little more than cattle herding. Of course, it is free to those who qualify. The provisions of current healthcare proposals and attrition do to predictable retirement will further exacerbate the doctor shortage, currently at 35,000.
Note: Their slow diagnosis of cancer in the cases of two of my friends, treated at by the VA, resulted in their deaths, within two months after a long awaited correct assessment.
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BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
Let us hope that your system is based on the same as the Australian model many hard working Australians up until medicare were bankrupted by a private based health system the fact that any human life availability is based io=on our ability to pay for that quality sets us up for a privilidged rich few ...uncontrolled medicine tends to be one of the most expensive monopolies in the world ...fact is we need the huge multinational chemical companies to be under full government control else they will feed like vultures on all of humanity ...as we all grow older we become more reliant on a near free based system subsidised by taxes else the costs would eat up any nest egg we have scraped through many a low income workers life and why should we pay through the nose for being sick..as the rich would have us do...I hear many negative comments coming from ultra conservative right wing supporters of a so called free marked system...until Australia got rid of its free market system , my wife who has chronic asthma and has died twice in hospital had nearly bankrupted her hard working professional father and our first married years were spent in poverty to pay the huge hospital bills that were thrown at us whilst many medical practitioners were running round in their fancy cars going on roud world trips for their holidays ...whilst i would sweat away huge overtime hours just to pay the bills ...bill medicare now pays 100% and there is NO EXCESS sure there are flaws but its the best we have with greedy people trying to rought it ...and how do we do it our taxes pay for it ...and we still complain ..be very careful what you wish for over there ...it may not be what you think ...at least now I in retirement do not owe great bills to anybody ...I am sorry if manty deluded ones over there think a tax based system wont help them but what alternative have you got for the poor and underprivilideged ...In Australia EVEN THE HOMELESS are entitled to a hospital bed in sickness...and that is the way it should be a system that allows free medical help not $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ after all good health for any country should be FREE and a right NOT A PRIVILIDGE -
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Antipodi
My Friend,
Thanks for the in-depth comment! I do so appreciate someone taking the time to THINK and share their views in a rational manner!
Here in the US, people like to pick and choose the best and the worst, for argument sake, to make their case. But one thing is true "Socialism works until you run out of other people's money" -Margaret Thatcher.
The populations of most countries where national healthcare "works" have relatively small homogeneous populations, Australia -approximately 22,000,000 adding one new birth every minute and 44 seconds and one new immigrant every minute and 53 seconds. (http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3222.0)
In the United States we have a diverse population of approximately 308,000,000 people with one birth every 7 seconds and one new immigrant every 35 seconds for a net gain of one person every 10 seconds. (http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html)
It is also estimated that we get approximately 12 million illegal immigrants every year who, unlike Australia, can just walk in not only to do the jobs no one else will do, but to also bring, drugs, disease, gangs, and welfare recipients. There is a move in our Congress to legalize all of these people, not to mention the relatives they will bring, and it will break the system. This is, I believe, the intent of this government; to turn this country into a third-world country with a rich socio-fascist ruling class like many post-colonial governments in Africa.
Nationalized healthcare is at best a Ponzi scheme. Our Social Security system will be bankrupt next year, 7 years ahead of the doom projections of last year. This is due to the assimilation of people who have not contributed to the system for a significant amount of time drawing benefits, low birth rate, and an aging population living longer because of our excellent healthcare system. This will all contribute to a system paying out with less coming in, I think we are at a point now where it takes two productive workers to support every retiree. The same will happen with healthcare. It is not sustainable and will result in delays in treatment (Canada), denial of treatment (Britain), and ultimate rationing. I cannot speak to the systems of the 36 countries that “enjoy” national healthcare, but here in the US we have it for our Native Americans and it is an absolute scandal.
That being said, I will have a Part V, hopefully today that will more clearly explain the actual intent and ramifications of this current attempt to confiscate one-sixth of this nations wealth and put it in the hands of politicians to dish out like lollipops.
"...based io=on our ability to pay for that quality sets us up for a privileged rich few ...uncontrolled medicine tends to be one of the most expensive monopolies in the world ..." The “privileged” and our politicians and many government employees will not be subject to the systems they propose. Theirs is better!
“uncontrolled medicine tends to be one of the most expensive monopolies in the world” What we still have is competition, which does keep drug prices down and allow for new drug development. The United States is the last country where a significant amount of new drugs are being developed. Some recent scandals have involved foreign companies doing business and development in the United States. Drug companies here also have various programs to provide drugs free of charge to those who are unable to pay… no waiting, no government involvement, and there is a very rapid application and approval turnaround. My wife being an example, who is now disabled do to asthma and a host or related complications. The latest incident being taken to the hospital a week ago and not expected to survive. She was released three days later, started driving her car again yesterday (she hasn’t driven in almost a year) and is visiting a friend in another county as I type.
“as we all grow older we become more reliant on a near free based system subsidized by taxes else the costs would eat up any nest egg we have scraped through many a low income workers life and why should we pay through the nose for being sick” It is difficult to actually compare systems. In the case of Medicare here, the government is only collecting 57% of the costs of the program. Proposed is a 500 Billion dollar reduction. This will directly affect one of the only effective programs, Medicare Advantage, and it will also cut benefits to those who most need them. On the average, 25% of a lifetime of medical expenses are realized in the last year of life. Most of that in the last six months. Under the British system a year of one’s life is worth approximately US$47,000. If one’s treatment costs more or will not extend life for a pro-rated period of time it is denied. Simple!
Fraud is rampant in our system, courtesy of the Democrat Party. It averages 10% overall and is highest in Democrat controlled states like New York (40%)
“I am sorry if manty deluded ones over there think a tax based system wont help them but what alternative have you got for the poor and under-privileged ...In Australia EVEN THE HOMELESS are entitled to a hospital bed in sickness...and that is the way it should be a system that allows free medical help not $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ after all good health for any country should be FREE” A tax based system confiscates wealth; in some countries, 70-80-90%. The actual rich move their wealth and then themselves to another friendlier environment. The educated and the talented developers go elsewhere. Again, the Democrat strong holds –New York and California are bankrupt so they have increased taxes. The “producers” are fleeing to other states! What we have here is a system of the “looters” taking from the “producers” to placate the “moochers” who will in turn vote for the “looters” At some point in time the system has to collapse under its own weight, which unfortunately seems to be the goal of this current government.
“good health for any country should be FREE and a right NOT A PRIVILIDGE”. We here have what is known as the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to our constitution. The number of “Rights” vary by country. Some with none and some with as many a 17. Healthcare is not a right, nor is welfare, housing and a whole host of want have become know as entitlements in this country. If you read through the 4 parts on healthcare, you see healthcare in this country, by law, is denied to no one. That is why we have people streaming across our borders and filling up hospitals in the border states and we the tax payer are footing the bill and the contribute nothing. The swine flu started in Mexico. Our first case was an illegal alien found and treated in Arizona, a border state. States that have tried a state based universal healthcare system, like Oregon, Hawaii, and Massachusetts have cancelled it (Hawaii), denied treatment (Oregon) or find themselves deeply in debt (Massachusetts) because people who can afford private healthcare migrate to the “system” and it collapses.
I enjoyed the comment and the chance to rationally discuss the topic. I may have missed a few points, but this, in our case, is a very complicated subject with a lot of ramifications addressed by politicians who refuse to address and correct the actual problems, which they have in fact created.
Howard It is too bad that Utopia just won’t work, ’cause too many people want it for nothing.
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