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In an op-ed from the Wall Street Journal, Shikha Dalmia tosses Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care plan into the fireplace.
Comments to "Reason Writers Around Town":
As a former health insurance underwriter, I can attest that the fondest dream of insurance companies is a customer that can't walk away from the table and say, "screw you, I'm not offering coverage at those prices." It's entirely predictable that a mandate would result in huge rate increases -- followed by government attempts to set price controls - followed by the predictably disasterous effects that price controls always wreak.
prolefeed | February 4, 2008, 4:01pm | #
Ooops -- should have read:a customer that can't walk away from the table and say, "screw you, I'm not
Preview, dammit!
Jumbie | February 4, 2008, 4:01pm | #
IN today's NY Times Paul Krugman comes out in favor of Hillary over Obama because her Healthcare plan forces people to buy into it.Here's a quote from old Paul: "After all, we already have programs that make health insurance free or very cheap to many low-income Americans, without requiring that they sign up. And many of those eligible fail, for whatever reason, to enroll."
I can't get over how disdainful he is of the idea that people have chosen to do without helth insurance, even though it's affordable.
Krugman and Clinton don't care if you chose to not have insurance, for whatever reason, "you will be assimilated, um, covered!"
From the Keystrokes of John Q. Public... | February 4, 2008, 4:25pm | #
With 2 trillion dollars in waste, I think the healthcare industry needs more guarantee of payment....Daniel Reeves | February 4, 2008, 6:28pm | #
IN today's NY Times Paul Krugman comes out in favor of Hillary over Obama because her Healthcare plan forces people to buy into it.Hold on, guys, there's something more important than a health insurance crisis going on here: You actually gloss over (or-- gasp-- read!) his columns?
Jorgen | February 4, 2008, 7:52pm | #
The basic problem is that people see price as the creator of scarcity rather than a reflection of it. When you see that health insurance costs $10,000 a year, and you are only willing to pay $8,000, you think that lowering the price tag lets you buy insurance. The reality, though, is that insurance costs a lot because medical care costs a lot, and medical care costs a lot because there is a limited supply of doctors, hospitals and medical equipment, the supply of which is often artificially restricted by the government. It's impossible to give everyone top quality health care because there aren't enough top quality doctors to see everyone.ray | February 4, 2008, 8:03pm | #
I am Canadian and I am forced to buy health insurance. Our premiums are very low (single person pays $54/month) but our system is so highly subsidized that we never see the real cost of any treatment we receive. Never!We have 2 major problems in our system (and the systems that would likely be implemented by Obama and/or Clinton). First is waiting......and waiting.....and waiting. Canadians are forced to wait to see specialists (often many months and people do die waiting for treatment in Canada), wait or be denied diagnostics wait to be seen in an emergency ward of a hospital.
And second, when we get health care it is sufficient but not the best. Yes we have universal coverage and our poor and working poor are all covered (which actually saves money in the long run due to the high cost of not getting timely treatment for conditions) but mediocrity is the price we pay.
If health coverage is offered at a low price or for free I do not understand why people would not want it. But I don’t understand a lot of what other people do and that does not mean they should be forced to live by my rules. Your system does charge you WAY too much for prescription drugs, though. And that should be addressed.
grumpy realist | February 4, 2008, 8:39pm | #
Why can't we go for a duplex system? A government-run health care system which provides for the basic stuff and nags you about eating your veggies, then if you want extra bells and whistles on top of that (or a cut in the waiting) you pay out of pocket/get private health insurance?Half of the battle is the insurance paperwork. If we forewent all of that tracking etc. for individuals under the government-run system, we could free up an immense amount of $$$, is my feeling.
The Wine Commonsewer | February 4, 2008, 9:37pm | #
Schwarzzengroper may well be the WORST governor Californicate has had.Good piece, Ms Dalmia.
Jeff Smith | February 4, 2008, 10:18pm | #
Two comments:First, the alternative to forcing the uninsured to buy insurance is that the care is paid for by the insured and/or (depending on the state) the taxpayer, via "uncompensated care". Such care is often delivered in very inefficient ways (e.g. through emergency rooms). The alternative, for many though not all of the uninsured, is not that the uninsured then pay for whatever medical care they need out of pocket. Thus, given that we will never let the poor actually go without care, the question is how best to arrange their care. How to deal with middle class health care (and many of the uninsured are middle class) is a different issue in my view.
Second, it is not that Americans pay too much for prescription drugs but that Canadians pay too little. Essentially, they free ride on the drug research that is paid for implicitly via prescription drug prices in the US.
Jeff
Mike Laursen | February 5, 2008, 12:10am | #
Half of the battle is the insurance paperwork. If we forewent all of that tracking etc. for individuals under the government-run system, we could free up an immense amount of $$$, is my feeling.I want to make sure I understand what you just said. Do you think there could be less paperwork under a government-run health system?
Bladedoc | February 5, 2008, 8:13am | #
Half of the battle is the insurance paperwork. If we forewent all of that tracking etc. for individuals under the government-run system, we could free up an immense amount of $$$, is my feeling.finishes laughing /wipes eyes
Let me assure you that BlueCross/BlueShield paperwork is a walk in the park on a spring day when you're in love in comparison to the Medicare rulebook.
R C Dean | February 5, 2008, 9:26am | #
A government-run health care system which provides for the basic stuff and nags you about eating your veggies, then if you want extra bells and whistles on top of that (or a cut in the waiting) you pay out of pocket/get private health insurance?Because the premise of the government-run system is that healthcare is a right. Once you've made that leap, you've fatally undercut any basis for telling the po' folks they can only get second-class care.
daniel k | February 5, 2008, 1:20pm | #
Health insurance is a misnomer. Imagine that your home insurance included maintenance - painting every year, replacement granite countertops every two years, room additions...And as long as doctors are paid piecework, and can recommend tests and procedures that you can't evaluate, and doctors tell you that you can die if you don't do that, and someone else pays, health care prices will rise and rise and...
SuprKufr | February 5, 2008, 2:03pm | #
ray wrote:people do die waiting for treatment in Canada
That is a lie because Universal Health Care is perfect and has no flaws whatsoever! Don't you know that there are 890 trillion uninsured people in America? You probably want all of them to die!
Rockerbabe | February 8, 2008, 12:37am | #
Interesting, people also die waiting for care in every hospital, in every city, in every state in the USA. If there is not mandate for everyone to be covered in some form or manner, there there will still be poeople showing up in ER demanding medical care for which they cannot and do not intend to pay. There is not good "fix" for the societial issues of freeloading and poverty. I say, Europe and Canada style healthcare, esp like in France!
