Aug 08
Some of you might be thinking well if the public option is cheaper and more competitive then private then that must be a good thing if private health insurance goes out of business.
Well remember that government doesn’t have to deal with taxes like the private industry and can even run at a loss because the tax payer picks up the tab.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I don’t know of anything that the government does that is more efficient then the private sector.
The definition of single payer you have there is what I already had in my head. My point is that Obama is currently hiding that single payer is the ultimate goal or at least it was. But if that was the case then I don’t see why he would not acknowledge that his position has changed.
On a separate note I think single payer is a bad idea. http://mises.org/story/3586
August 11th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
What a surprise. I’ve never seen this happen before… Obama’s words distorted by conservatives who use fear tactics to protect a way of life that helps those who have and ignores those who have not and claims to do so in the name of truth and even in the name of God. I’m sure if Jesus was here he wouldn’t want everyone to have health care. Only the rich and privileged.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:47 am
@Tommy
Where is the distortion? Did Obama not say “I happen to be a proponent of single payer universal health care plan”?
Jesus didn’t take from others to give to the poor if I recall. He did however talk about giving to the poor on a personal level.
@Andrew
I agree with what you said about “eliminate employer coverage”. What I am saying is their affordable alternative has an unfair advantage. That report doesn’t mean anything to me because any loss the government has when running a business is simply borrowed, taxed or printed. All result in the tax payer paying for it. In fact inflation is a hidden tax that effects the poor the most.
A real way to bring cost down would be to:
Allow insurance to compete between states.
Reduce regulations that are costly to the insurance company and passed on to the customer.
Insurance should also change back to the way it was so that is covers major medical things instead of regular visits to the doctor. With a third party paying for minor things and the insurer getting “free” checkups the laws of economics can’t function properly and the cost of medical continues to go up. Demand increases when things cost less which brings up the cost that the third party pays over time which in turn brings up premiums.
Inflation of the monetary supply is also why the price goes up.
August 12th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
If any Austrian economists ever want to jump in please feel free.
@Andrew – I see the difference between single-payer and universal healthcare. I am for the free market so I am against both ideas.
I just looked at that article again and I find it very confusing. My previous comment was in response to reading that Medicare spent more per beneficiary.
“Other examples of government programs that work well are the National Park Service, IRS, FAA, NASA, NOAA, the GI Bill, Cash for Clunkers, USDA, FDA…”
I said I don’t know of anything the government has run that is more efficient then the free market. Keep in mind that government intervention distorts the free market so I suspect any example you give me will have a government intervention story behind it.
I don’t know if I would say that all those are run well. Cash for clunkers was a disaster in my opinion. We take money from the tax payer and give it to people to throw out their working cars to go into debt to buy something they don’t need. Not only that but they are likely to buy a foreign car and therefor send the money overseas.
I would also like to know of anything the government has done that went according to their original budget. Take Iraq for example.
I suggest you take a look at http://www.mises.org. They have a lot of great stuff about the type of economics I agree with.
Oh and in case you are wondering I didn’t like bush either (as soon as I actually started getting into to politics)
August 18th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I hope this country moves towards single payer. We spend more than twice as much as Canada per person and we don’t have everyone covered. Plus, well over 50 percent of bankruptcy’s result from health care. And a lot of these people have insurance but their insurance just doesn’t cover certain things. The private sector shouldn’t even be involved in health care. Health care is a public issue, not a private one that exists to make profit. Every time I hear some stupid conservative say that we have the best health care system in the world I just laugh. We rank right next to Slovenia in health care. That’s right, Slovenia! Single payer will cover everyone and we will spend less money, every other wealthy nation in the industrialized world has some form of single payer and it’s time we join them. Our health care system is the laughing stock of the industrialized world.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:06 am
@Austin
I suggest you watch this video:
http://digg.com/d311lup
August 29th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Ok we both agree there is longer wait times.
Finding a family doctor is hard?
“Almost one-fifth of men (19 per cent) over the age of 12 are without a doctor and most of them admitted they have not looked for one.” – not wanting a doctor is different then having to wait 2 or 3 years if you do want one.
I think we both agree that our current system is broken. Where we differ is you have faith in government and I have faith in the free market (what we have is not free). The example given in your video about other services makes a good point but keep in mind most of those were local government which can’t print up the difference and I guess competes with other towns in the way of less or more taxes.
Again I think you should read economics in one lesson if you get a chance. I think the logic in that book is pretty solid.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
All Americans do have access to health care. Who can’t make money and buy a plan? As far as affordability I answer that in my latest post.
I don’t see health care as a right. I need food but I don’t think it is the government’s responsibility to buy it for me.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:22 am
I was thinking more of short term emergency care like a car accident.
Are you saying that health insurance wouldn’t cover chemo?
In a free market all people are not equal. I don’t think everyone should get top notch care. Care needs to be rationed one way or another. We live in a world with limited resources. I think the free market is the best way to allocate those limited resources.
On another level I think diet and lifestyle changes would be better then chemo anyway. Although this is just a gut feeling, not really science based.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Health care is a PUBLIC issue, not a private issue. Can you imagine what would happen if we privatized the police forces of this country so that every time they nailed someone for a speeding ticket or something that they would make more money. It would be ridiculous, and that’s what happens in the private sector in the U.S, the more people they deny the more money they make. This video shows exactly what is wrong with our system.
http://sickforprofit.com/
August 31st, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I pretty much agree with just about everything Andrew said, this country should have at least a strong public option.