tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post1988110729695103499..comments2023-10-31T06:01:54.153-04:00Comments on Pretty Lady: Health Care, Part the SecondPretty Ladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-79156361171793661752007-07-28T05:10:00.000-04:002007-07-28T05:10:00.000-04:00"But the rubber must meet the road. You would need..."But the rubber must meet the road. You would need to specify what is, and what is not, a catastrophe."<BR/><BR/>This is not a problem.<BR/><BR/>It used to be called major medical and is what insurance is supposed to be.<BR/><BR/>You pay for the small stuff and the insurance pays for the big, banckruptcy inducing stuff.<BR/><BR/>Your auto liability does not pay for tuneups. You pay for that.<BR/><BR/>What we have now and what everyone has been trained to want is not insurance at all, but rather pre-paid all inclusive health care.<BR/><BR/>Pre-paid care. Not insurance.<BR/><BR/>It will bankrupt us.<BR/><BR/>We need insurance that will be affordable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-32166638717356312782007-07-28T05:02:00.000-04:002007-07-28T05:02:00.000-04:00Ah, yes. Health insurance provided bu employers. H...Ah, yes. Health insurance provided bu employers. Health insurance, as if the medical establishment knows anything about health as opposed to disease.<BR/><BR/>There was a time when employers did not provide health insurance. As recently as the 1960's I think.<BR/><BR/>Seeing a doctor was a bit more reasonable then as people actually paid for it out of their own pocket.<BR/><BR/>Then there came a shortage of good help in the corporate world. I don't remember the reason or if the reason was known, but anyway, the corporations decided that offering health insurance would be a good way to attract and keep good help.<BR/><BR/>This idea spread until it was nearly universal.<BR/><BR/>The problem is that once the cost is being paid by deep pockets corporations, the price charged went up. And the idea of providing cost effective service declined.<BR/><BR/>Now, large numbers of people can not afford health care, or even insurance for that matter.<BR/><BR/>The problem is health insurance provided by employers. It is not the solution.<BR/><BR/>The system is bloated and inefficient for a reason.<BR/><BR/>The system also cures few ills and charges a fortune for managing symptoms.<BR/><BR/>The cure for cancer is a definition, not a reality.<BR/>Definition: if you live for 5 years after being diognosed you are cured. It will likely return and kill you, but that will be a reocurance. The initial cancer was 'cured'.<BR/><BR/>I prescribe free market.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-86559804974266498872007-07-22T11:45:00.000-04:002007-07-22T11:45:00.000-04:00So then, what is wrong with individually managed m...<I>So then, what is wrong with individually managed medical savings accounts, coupled with catastrophic coverage in a pool?</I><BR/><BR/>Nothing is uniquely wrong with that plan.<BR/><BR/>But the rubber must meet the road. You would need to specify what is, and what is not, a catastrophe.<BR/><BR/>Moreover, you have to recognize that many people have a very limited capacity to save money, and as such would be forced to skip treatment for illnesses not categorized as catastrophic. Not only does this circumstance likely affect their ability to earn and save more money, but it also increases the likelihood of arriving at a catastrophe, which raises rates for everyone.<BR/><BR/>Presumably you are suggesting that very healthy individuals could use their unspent health savings for other purposes, subject to some regulations? If not, then what is the point of calling it savings? <BR/><BR/>I assume that the incentive to save would be that the money could be deposited tax free, like a cafe plan. But some people (the very poor and the very rich) don't pay taxes anyway. So either you make the savings mandatory, or you deal with poor people (of which there are many) having no savings, and therefore no health care except for catastrophic situations. <BR/><BR/>That is no different than the situation we have now, where, as Roci points out, federal law ensures that any poor person can get open heart surgery free of charge, assuming that they can make it to the hospital (and that the procedure is deemed necessary).<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what the best fix is, but I can say that we already have socialized health care in this country, and it is horribly mismanaged.thimscoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12289986829453164335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-27212460352632077532007-07-19T15:04:00.000-04:002007-07-19T15:04:00.000-04:00PL, Nice comments on Health care.I would like to ...PL,<BR/> Nice comments on Health care.<BR/><BR/>I would like to add, if I may a few additional points.<BR/><BR/>1. The problem of the uninsurable. Some people are so "high maintenence" that insurance is not really an option for them. They seek instead to pass their costs onto someone else under the guise of insurance. Such people mahe insurance plans more expensive for everyone else in their pools.<BR/><BR/>2. Federal law mandates that emergency rooms must accept and treat anyone who presents at their door without regard to ability to pay or citizenship. Most do not pay. Those cost get passed along to people who do... insurance companies, making premiums higher for everyone.<BR/><BR/>3. America does not have a health care system. We have a collection of private, public and charitable institutions that operate under a myriad of government regulation, corporate oversight and philanthropic principles. To claim we have a "system" is to empower those who wish to take over control of that system.Rocihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04019342315317562988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-87079285850380386952007-07-16T13:00:00.000-04:002007-07-16T13:00:00.000-04:00My not-so-daily mediataion on various scumbags sca...My not-so-daily mediataion on various scumbags scattered around like pidgeon droppings results in laughter over the stupidity of man, not headaches, etc,. etc.<BR/><BR/>The inablility of the United States Congress to deal with the vast assortments of scumbags out there is what gives me headaches, but not often.<BR/><BR/>What mostly gives me headaches is hitting my head on stuff in the dark, but that happpened only once... when I was widdle bitty boy.<BR/><BR/>Now that I am a cranky old man I studuiously avoid getting headaches of any kind, since I have absolutey NO masochistic tendencies, other than occasionally posting over at Vox's place, allowing myself to become a dart board for the "regulars".<BR/><BR/>But stirring them up is so much fun!Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06519694773471791785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-81512950039262554222007-07-16T12:22:00.000-04:002007-07-16T12:22:00.000-04:00Daily meditation upon the Scumbags that have Done ...Daily meditation upon the Scumbags that have Done One Wrong directly contributes to headaches, backaches, stomach ulcers, sore ankles, respiratory infecctions, cancer, liver disease, kidney failure and bags under the eyes. <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>But since daily scumbag meditation has not been linked in clinical studies that have been documented in refereed-journals to ED, I guess it does not pose a genuinely serious health riskAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-61136627383677696982007-07-16T01:22:00.000-04:002007-07-16T01:22:00.000-04:00Our medical plan at my employ is switching to exac...Our medical plan at my employ is switching to exactly the plan you describe, starting January. I couldn't be happier. Not because I get more "free" care than now, but because I think it is the only way to go on principle.Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-52207947910527114412007-07-15T19:39:00.000-04:002007-07-15T19:39:00.000-04:00Well thank you for your comments! Most rewarding.I...Well thank you for your comments! Most rewarding.<BR/><BR/>I am known -- in family circles -- as Mr. grouchy pants, because I am usually the one that throws the cold water on neat sounding but stupid ideas.<BR/><BR/>Should you manage to survive as long as I have, remember me, because you will have become me, just a lot more flowery.<BR/><BR/>You are far more focused now than I am, but wait...just wait... broadsides in a general direction will become most satisfying.<BR/><BR/>Thats of course assuming you'll still be able to post on the internet without a government censor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com