> Denny wrote: > What do you think about government-mandated automobile insurance? >
I'm all for it as you should need to "pay to play". But if I take your point I think we need to separate out 2 things: (1.) Universal Healthcare - coverage for everyone (2.) Single payer - the government provides the healthcare product and is the sole price negotiator. "the public option" is more #2 than #1. Why? Because universal healthcare could easily happen by simply extending medicare to the whole population (although it doesn't cover preventative care). What the public option seeks to do is begin creating a single payer system. So, again, the theory there being that since the government has failed to adequately regulate the healthcare industry, we'll reward them by giving them their own insurance company which will have the effect of turning over the entire healthcare system to them. The core problem is, again, not the financier; it's the supply side costs. Doctors charge bills patients can't afford so they finance them through insurance (which on it's own is crazy notion - do you pay for car maintenance with your car insurance??) What's the best way, therefore, to control supply side costs? Look to the airlines, how'd we solve that problem? Did we finance the high cost of tickets in the 70s with public money? Or did we privatize? We privatized. And what was the result? By many studies, tickets are 50% less with no reduction in safety. So the answer is obvious: we need to privatize healthcare. We need patients to understand what the costs are. Here's an example: glasses. Typically if you get an eye exam there's a shop where you can buy glasses and frames and typically those frames and lens are much more expensive than what you can buy at lenscrafters or on the internet. Most people I know just get their prescription and then buy in the mall or online. Why? It's cheaper. So let's say you knew the cost of an x-ray. And you could pay $250 at the doctor's office or you could go to Bob's 24hour Xray and pay $75 for a 1am appointment. If you have to pay the bill, you're going to get creative and go to Bob's. And Bob is going to get creative and open his shop. And the Xray manufacturer is going to make a model that's bare bones. And Bob is going to buy it and lower his costs to compete with Jim's. And now your Xray is going to cost $60. And that, my friend, is how you solve the healthcare problem. Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:302272 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
