Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquila
You want to know why those premiums are really going up? It is simple economics. It's not so much "government" either.
You see, we had nearly 50 million uninsured Americans. When they became sick or injured, they'd go to the ER. They'd be admitted to the hospital and receive various procedures and treatments necessary. Many had waited so long the treatments and procedures they needed are now rather advanced, invasive, and expensive. Being uninsured, they couldn't pay the medical bill or they are slow payers. Record numbers just declare bankruptcy. This caused providers to lose money! To cover this loss and stay in business with cutting edge medical technologies, providers had to increase the cost of care. When the cost of care would increase due to the uninsured, insurance companies had to increase the premiums of the insured to cover the now increased costs of care. When premiums rose, more people opted out of health insurance because they couldn't afford it. Then the cycle would repeat itself.... only now there are MORE uninsured brining loss to providers.
You see, health care can't be "free market" unless it can deny services. For example, imagine a car dealership run like the health care system. You show up at the auto-ER and they give you a car and bill you. And now you have this car, but you can't pay the bill. So.... you don't pay it, or you are a slow payer. Now, imagine you have millions of people like you doing this. What will happen to the dealership? Will it not go out of business? Of course it would. So, to stay in business, they cover the loss by increasing the price of automobiles. Well, what happens then? Fewer can afford them outright, so, more people drop by the auto-ER. Now the price is in a continual process of increase based on incurred loss. Prices are now set to skyrocket until automobiles are so expensive only the ultra wealthy can afford them.
However, many nations have discovered that IF you can insure that providers are indeed paid for services.... the price of said services remains relatively stable. The only way to do this is to insure that EVERYONE pays into the system, it is available to all, after all. The least expensive way to do this side steps the administration and executive costs.... taxation. So, the government has everyone pay into the system that is available to all (no free rides); all to ensure that providers are paid and the price stays stable. With stable prices brings stable premiums for elective procedures. That also means that it is easier to directly negotiate the cost of essential care. This helps keep the costs of most routine procedures and services to a bare minimum.
If you want true FREE MARKET health care... you have to be able to turn away those who are not insured or cannot pay in cold hard cash. Because that is exactly what every other free market business (such as a car dealership) would do.
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You left out the part where you then produce doctors who make barely more than a McDonalds manager. You let the Gov start taxing and mandating that all people pay so that you can guarantee healthcare providers get paid, the next step is that you then have to make sure that the providers only make so much so that they can be covered by the amount of taxes you steal from the populace. So if you tax all the people, take out the cost of any overhead, an d what is left is all you have to pay the providers. If that ends up meaning you can only pay a doctor $40,000 a year...then "woohoo" that Doctor should celebrate right?
Yes, you want men and women to go to college for an additional 8-12 years to earn a degree that costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars so that they can make...less than a good used car salesman? Oh yeah...that will work out great.
Oh and of course, you also have the fact that letting the Gov regulate will further kill patient care and relationship with the doctor. They will indeed, as they already do in most cases, mandate that these doctors shuffle patients through their office as fast as a Taco Bell worker can toss that taco down the line. No time to talk. No time to really discuss things. Just in and out. Gotta keep moving so we can "treat" the next patient. You know, because if they meet the quota, then the Gov overseeing the healthcare may pay you even less Doctor.
I don't understand how anyone can look at Government involvement in anything and think, "Gee these people do such great work. Let's just let them control even more of our lives".
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