Medical Care… Don’t hand it over to the government!
…The high cost and inequitable character of our medical care system are the direct result of our steady movement toward reliance on third-party payment. A cure requires reversing course, reprivatizing medical care by eliminating most third-party payment, and restoring the role of insurance to providing protection against major medical catastrophes…
This is kind of an interesting article. One thing the guy seemed to fail to mention was the fact that if you don’t get insured through your company (if you go and get a private plan), they can jack up your rates indefinitely (like, if you come down with cancer or something). That’s THE MAJOR reason I choose to get covered through my company. If I could get catastrophe-only medical insurance, I would. Especially with a tax-exempt Medical Savings Account of some sort. In my dream world, I’d make it so that I could withdrawal penalty free from my 401k to cover health expenditures that were over $1k, and cover the rest out-of-pocket…
The only form of “government” health care I would ever consider would be a tax-rebate of $X/year. Think about it, let’s say the government would spend $2,000 a year to provide YOU with health insurance. Where do you think that money is going to come from? Mostly, A) Printed (causing every dollar you make to be worth less) B) Borrowed from China (Making it harder and harder to act as a country without considering political implications of what we do. What if we need to move on Iran, and China says that if we do they will stop lending?) C) Stolen from the rich (meaning the rich will either up their salaries, thus lowering their companies’ profitability and lowering your potential pay check, or meaning the rich will have less to invest in stock markets which will weaken our entire economy, etc) D) Out of your pocket (so, maybe you will end up paying $500 in taxes). So, the government spends $2000 a year on your medical coverage.
Why would you let them do that? You can spend money on you much better than someone else can! It’s like, would you rather have someone buy you a $100 gift, or would you rather them give you $100? Of course you take the $100 over the gift (if you’re smart)! The person buying the gift most likely won’t shop around for the best deal, and/or settle for something else that is less money, but does the same thing. Either that, or they try to spend as little as possible, and since they have no appreciation for the thing they are buying you, you end up with sub-par goods! (sure, that net-gear router is OK, but you could have gotten the much better lynksys on new-egg for only a few dollars more. Is this what you want to happen with your new organ? Wouldn’t you be the best person to, with your doctor, choose the best heart you can for the amount you can afford?)
So, instead of the government spending $2000 a year on your health insurance, what if they GAVE YOU $1500 a year? For rich people, that would just mean they paid $1500 less in taxes. For poor people who pay no taxes to begin with, they would receive a check for $1500. Then the poor people would go out and buy the “safe auto” version of health insurance that would end up being better than what the government ever would have provided with the $2000, and the rich people would take that $1500 and apply it towards the $6000 plan they currently maintain. There! Health insurance for everyone at the price and quality they can afford!
NOTE: Yes, my dollar amounts are way off. They are for illustration purposes only.
OTHER NOTE: I know, the government would have to make/borrow/steal the $1500 per person, but isn’t that better than the $2000 per person they would have otherwise made/borrowed/stolen? It’s still stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but at least I still am in charge of my health care…
