Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to The numbers will doubtless comfort the families who were denied insurance or denied service on policies they thought they had.

Again...
TB — (archived)

Don't let emotions and anecdotal evidence run away with the issue.

If helping the poor and involuntarily uninsured was the real goal for the politicians, they would start by revising, and reforming the Medicaid system. Are they?

Hunger in America is mostly dealt with by private enterprise, with food stamps and other programs filling in for the poor. It isn't about "free" food for everyone. And last time I looked, food was as essential as medical care. Try and find someone in the U.S. who died of starvation lately. Other than someone locked in a closet by lunatics.

Economic laws are ironclad. Down deep, no liberal really believes this, but they are. If the government makes medical care "free" for all, the only possible end result will be severe rationing. And if you think there's cherry-picking now, wait until you are cut off by the State with no alternatives any more.

When the middle class is on a three-year waiting list for care, you think people like Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton, who would be hailed as living saints for socializing American medicine, will be waiting in that line?

Look at England now. That's the end of the road. Other nations are heading there fast.

Market forces have to be brought back into the system somehow. Long ago, health insurance became an employee benefit, thanks to government meddling. Reversing that will be slow, but it can be done.

Start by deregulating the anti-competitive laws that keep you from shopping around, especially between states. Non-employee insurance will get cheaper and more attractive. More rational laws on regulating medical technology and drugs wouldn't hurt either. Lean the FDA more toward safety, and not so much on effectiveness. Give people more choices. Medical savings accounts are a good idea, but a very small part of the solution.

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