List of Few Reasons for Rise in Cost

We hear a lot about poor health care coverage and rising costs of medical insurance and how the government should get involved with a public option. Yet, before answering these questions, people need to ask themselves: why is there a rise in cost?

Answer: 3rd party payments to physicians or hospitals and the poor spending habits when handling another's money. This accounts for approximatetly 60% in the rise of healthcare costs---> 1/3 excessive cost for tax exemption and 1/4 excessive cost for Medicare and Medicaid.

Why the dependence on third party systems for payments?

1. Tax Exemption to Companies that Provide Health Insurance:

   History -     

      a. Companies competing to acquire labor during World War II offered medical care as fringe  benefit. 

     b. Congress passes legislation for employee provided health insurance to be tax exempt. 

How Does this Account for Rise in Cost? 

     a. Leads employees to rely on their employer, rather than themselves.

     b. Leads employees to take a larger fraction of their total remuneration (salary) in form of medical care.

Solution:

     a. If tax exemption were removed, employees could bargain with their employees for higher take-home pay.

      b. This would enable employee to pay medical care directly-->allows government to reduce tax rate on income while raising the same total revenue.

    

2. Enactment of Medicare and Medicaid

     History -

     a. Est. ca. 1965 as direct subsidy for medical care for low income and elderly population.

    How Does this Account for Rise in Cost?

     a. The lower the price, the greater the quantity demanded; at zero price, the quantity demanded becomes infinite. Some method of rationing must be substituted for price, which invariably means administrative rationing.

Read more from Milton Friedman--HOOVER DIGEST-MILTON FRIEDMAN ON HEALTHCARE
  

Amending Amendments

As the Health Reform Bill goes back to the house, there are some things to consider. The bill will pass and universal coverage will, unfortunately, become law. Republican attempts to dismantle the bill through amendments will merely prolong the inevitable. These amendments will serve there purpose, however, by exploiting the intricate caveats intertwined with this bill and reveal the parochial attitude of all Democrats that see through to its passage.

Among the amendments rejected by the democrats and are to remembered: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to prevent convicted child molesters and rapists from getting reimbursed by the government for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction(REJECTED); an amendment from Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) to require all members of Congress to enroll in Medicaid(REJECTED); a measure from Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to certify that no households earning less than $250,000 will see increased taxes as a result of health care reform(REJECTED); and an amendment by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) to certify that Americans will not have to change their health insurance as a result of the bill if they do not want to(REJECTED).

We won't forget.

Winning the War Means Demoralizing the Enemy

OPERATION PAF: PROTECT AMERICAN FREEDOM

These defamatory Muhammad pictures should be printed and/or painted on every tank, bomb, gun, and arm of American soldiers in the Middle East. Victory against terrorism lies with the implementation of supreme force against the Islamic Totalitarian regimes, especially Iran and Saudi Arabia. They exact war through uncertain force and ambiguous fear. Let us retaliate with brute force and definite fear. Let them know that freedom is more important than their worthless messenger Muhammad. Success rests alone through the demoralization of our enemy. Let them think...check that...Convince them that freedom will not cower nor submit to any god any day.

As for Those Doctors...

'Do you know what it takes to perform a brain operation? Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. I would not let them dictate the purpose for which my years of study had been spent, or the conditions of my work, or my

choice of patients, or the amount of my reward. I observed that in all the discussions that preceded the enslavement of medicine, men discussed everything--except the desires of the doctors. Men considered only the "welfare" of the patients, with no thought for those who were to provide it. That a doctor should have any right, desire or choice in the matter, was regarded as irrelevant selfishness; his is not to choose, they said, only "to serve." . . . I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind--yet what is it that they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands?' Their moral code has taught them to believe that it is safe to rely on the virtue of their victims. Well, that is the virtue I have withdrawn. Let them discover the kind of doctors that their system will now produce. Let them discover, in the operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man they have throttled. It is not safe, if he is the sort of man who resents it—and still less safe, if he is the sort who doesn’t.”

-- Ayn Rand, from Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN

I was watching CSPAN today and noticed that many of the callers in support of this bill were unemployed individuals that could not afford insurance. To me, it seems the logical step would be to attempt to get the economy rolling again to assure more people can earn an income and pay for their own health insurance. The focus should be on reducing taxes on companies, to enable them to hire more people. Yet, this is the complete opposite of what is proposed with this bill's passage. The funding of this bill includes a substantial tax increase on insurance, medical device, and drug companies. Government easily drives the insurance companies out-of-business, eliminating the public option. An easily understandable ploy of you are a scum politician driven by power.However, the confusing thing to me is: why the tax on medical device and drug companies? These taxes will only serve to cripple the "improvement" of healthcare through the advancement of technology. According to this logic, they seek to cripple medical advancement to assure everyone has crappy care. Absolutely ABSURD!  As Bill Hawkins, CEO of medical device company Medtronic, states in the WSJ that his "company[medtronic] could cut at least 1,000 jobs to absorb a new 2.9% excise tax on medical-device makers. Where is the justification in people losing their jobs to assure that others get health insurance? Many of these individuals are welfare recipients that receive the exploits of the hard-working man/woman. Therefore, the message that we must live for is to work hard to ensure people can continue to be lazy. That's what we have become: Lazy-Ass America!

What if Atlas Shrugged?

Why is Atlas Shrugged still a top seller? The prescient nature of Ayn Rand's novel seems congruent with today's world of second handers. Stossel does well in his explanation.