Health care costs

[SKYDIVNEKD 0]

"Now, take a husband with a blue-collar job w/no insurance, a wife who stays home w/ their three young children, and you can easily see how he can't easily afford health insurance for his family. So, let his children die of sickness? Nope."...quote from SkydiveNFlorida

Here is the simple solution, they should NOT of had the three kids in the first place!!! How irresponsible were they to have kids they can't afford?! With no kids and the wife working, they could afford health care for themselves. Then, if they established themselves, maybe they could afford a child. NOT three!!!

Where did y'all get the notion of having all the kids ya want and then expecting "the man" to pick up the tab?! You get what you WORK for. Get a grip!

[peregrinerose 0]

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Here is the simple solution, they should NOT of had the three kids in the first place!!! How irresponsible were they to have kids they can't afford?! With no kids and the wife working, they could afford health care for themselves. Then, if they established themselves, maybe they could afford a child. NOT three!!!

Blue chip was invented so that at least all children will have health insurance. No kid is ineligable for this.

But I do agree, people who can not afford children, or cannot care for them appropriately should not reproduce until such time as they are ready. Hell, I can't afford kids yet, so we are waiting another 4-5 years, when my student loans will be paid off and I will have almost $2000 a month extra income since it wouldn't be going to the student loan people. Until then, we are dirt poor. Anyone want to pay my electric bill this month? I have $50 in my bank acct, and the bill is $60.

Jen

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[kallend 2,027]

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"Now, take a husband with a blue-collar job w/no insurance, a wife who stays home w/ their three young children, and you can easily see how he can't easily afford health insurance for his family. So, let his children die of sickness? Nope."...quote from SkydiveNFlorida

Here is the simple solution, they should NOT of had the three kids in the first place!!! How irresponsible were they to have kids they can't afford?! With no kids and the wife working, they could afford health care for themselves. Then, if they established themselves, maybe they could afford a child. NOT three!!!

Where did y'all get the notion of having all the kids ya want and then expecting "the man" to pick up the tab?! You get what you WORK for. Get a grip!

Umm, how is telling someone with children that they should not have them a solution to the immediate problem of providing health care to those children?


Maybe we should just kill all the children of irresponsible parents - like Swift's "Modest Proposal"

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[free_man 0]

Free Market Medicine

Last week the congressional Joint Economic committee on which I serve held a hearing featuring two courageous medical doctors. I had the pleasure of meeting with one of the witnesses, Dr. Robert Berry, who opened a low-cost health clinic in rural Tennessee. His clinic does not accept insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, which allows Dr. Berry to treat patients without interference from third-party government bureaucrats or HMO administrators. In other words, Dr. Berry practices medicine as most doctors did 40 years ago, when patients paid cash for ordinary services and had inexpensive catastrophic insurance for serious injuries or illnesses. As a result, Dr. Berry and his patients decide for themselves what treatment is appropriate.

Freed from HMO and government bureaucracy, Dr. Berry can focus on medicine rather than billing. Operating on a cash basis lowers his overhead considerably, allowing him to charge much lower prices than other doctors. He often charges just $35 for routine maladies, which is not much more than one’s insurance co-pay in other offices. His affordable prices enable low-income patients to see him before minor problems become serious, and unlike most doctors, Dr. Berry sees patients the same day on a walk-in basis. Yet beyond his low prices and quick appointments, Dr. Berry provides patients with excellent medical care.

While many liberals talk endlessly about medical care for the poor, Dr. Berry actually helps uninsured people every day. His patients are largely low-income working people, who cannot afford health insurance but don’t necessarily qualify for state assistance. Some of his uninsured patients have been forced to visit hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency treatment because no doctor would see them. Others disliked the long waits and inferior treatment they endured at government clinics. For many of his patients, Dr. Berry’s clinic has been a godsend.

Dr. Berry’s experience illustrates the benefits of eliminating the middleman in health care. For decades, the U.S. healthcare system was the envy of the entire world. Not coincidentally, there was far less government involvement in medicine during this time. America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down, as the patient was directly responsible for payment, rather than an HMO or government program.

We should remember that HMOs did not arise because of free-market demand, but rather because of government mandates. The HMO Act of 1973 requires all but the smallest employers to offer their employees HMO coverage, and the tax code allows businesses- but not individuals- to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums. The result is the illogical coupling of employment and health insurance, which often leaves the unemployed without needed catastrophic coverage.

While many in Congress are happy to criticize HMOs today, the public never hears how the present system was imposed upon the American people by federal law. In fact, one very prominent Senator now attacking HMOs is on record in the 1970s lauding them. As usual, government intervention in the private market failed to deliver the promised benefits and caused unintended consequences, but Congress never blames itself for the problems created by bad laws. Instead, we are told more government- in the form of “universal coverage”- is the answer.

We can hardly expect more government to cure our current health care woes. As with all goods and services, medical care is best delivered by the free market, with competition and financial incentives keeping costs down. When patients spend their own money for health care, they have a direct incentive to negotiate lower costs with their doctor. When government controls health care, all cost incentives are lost. Dr. Berry and others like him may one day be seen as consumer heroes who challenged the third-party health care system and resisted the trend toward socialized medicine in America.

Ron Paul - R TX, OBGYN

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2004/tst050304.htm

“…because I hope you know this, I think you do…all governments are lying cocksuckers.”
Bill Hicks, Relentless

[EricTheRed 0]

And I agree with you however our government is in the business of promoting the production of citizens.

Grows the economy ya know...

illegible usually

[SKYDIVNEKD 0]

I don't find it MY responsibility to provide health care for their children. They had 'em, they need to figure out how to care for them. Maybe a second job!? A better job?! And I don't want to hear that they can't get a better job. There are plenty of businesses which provide health care. You just have to want to work!

If they don't want the responsibility, don't have the kids. Otherwise, deal with it. Don't expect others to pay for your STUPIDITY!

[Dagny 0]

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When I need to find a doctor, I do research and find out where they went to school, what hospitals they're affiliated with, where they did their internship, how long they've been in practice, what their specialties are.

Inquiring about a doctor's background is a smart thing to do. But beyond knowing how long they've been in practice, what their specialty is, whether or not they are board certified, and looking up malpractice claims against them, I don't see a point to learning which school they went to and where they did their internship.

U.S. medical school education is uniform across the board. There are exams to determine that a student doctor knows the minimum basic knowledge necessary to be a physician. Out of curiousity, may I ask what type of physician schooling and training you look for?

As for internship and residency, don't discount the doctor from a smaller unknown hospital as being less educated or less knowledgeable than a doctor trained at, say, Harvard or Yale. Each residency program emphasizes a certain degree of expertise and some of the larger and more well known programs emphasize a stronger background in research.

It seems like the best plan would be to try the doctor out, see if your needs are met and if you feel like this is someone with enough empathy, education, and interest in providing your healthcare.

Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic.
-Salvador Dali