Health care reform debate on the DP

The government is already the largest healthcare provider, Armed Forces, their dependents, retired/vets, and medicare/medicade. Private insurance can not match medicare, medicade and the VA, so when the government says it will pay a certain price, private insurance has to match that.

I like the way you summed that up.

Octobox

Lots of splainin needed here.

1. Anyone could be a doctor, therefore you could buy a cheap, not so good doctor or an expensive fancy doctor. Your call.

2. Anyone could make and sell any drug they wished for any price they wished or needed to sell it for.

3. Insurance would return to its defined role as a hedge against risk, not a free oil change card. The amount of services rendered as part of 'insurance' would drastically drop, as would premiums.

4. Insurers could assess the risk of potential clients and charge them accordingly. Sorry if you're one of the sick ones, but you simply don't have the right to steal from me to make yourself well.

5. In summary, people would buy everyday health services from private providers without red tape or regulations, but probably with some kind of private certification like the UL does for appliances. Insurance would be reserved for catastrophes, like any other form of insurance

'Live for yourself, there's no one else more worth living for,
Begging hands and bleeding hearts
Will only cry out for more...'

"Revolution - A Manifesto." He explains everything quite well. I used a lot of his material when I wrote to my congresswoman what I would like to see happen. Ever since government got involved in the medical business, the insurance industry and pharmaceutical industry are monopolizing it. Nixon brought us the HMOs that we have today, the free market did not. The insurance and pharm industries are the biggest lobbyists in Washington. The more power you give the government over health care, the more money they will make - NO DOUBT about it. There ain't no free lunch.

Getting the government out of health care and deregulating the insurance industry, giving us options for alternative health care (getting rid of the FDA, as was mentioned) and letting the doctors form relationships with their patients will bring the costs down. ALSO, we have to do something about the illegal immigration problem. They are adding a tremendous burden to the system. The costs of insurance did not go through the roof until the government brought in HMOS.

Healthnut4freedom

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5,6

The insurance companies are heavily subsidized through round about corporate tax incentives. For instance, I can't write off my medical expenses... But I can write of health insurance... How does THAT make any sense? (Btw, exceeding 7% of you total income in health expenses does then allow you to write it off, but that is a catastrophic event).
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The Philosophy Of Liberty -
http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf

And lpviper the winner. Which should also explain why there is no debate on the topic here.... :)

Just those of us who agree, and the 30 minute trolls who join, push national health care, and then go away....
___________________________________
The Philosophy Of Liberty -
http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf