RomneyCare unveiled

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Romney to Pitch a State-by-State Health Insurance Plan

[J’raxis 270145]

At least he's not trying to inflict on the rest of the country what he did to Massachusetts.

[Little Owl]

It still sucks.  Its become political suicide these days to say "People need to look after themselves" and keep government out.

[J’raxis 270145]

It still sucks.  Its become political suicide these days to say "People need to look after themselves" and keep government out.

True. But until the insurance industry—which the government essentially created with laws promoting and requiring HMOs, and the like—is broken, expecting people to look after themselves healthcare-wise just doesn't work, since no one can afford it on their own.

If we were to get rid of the insurance companies, and go back to a system where you pay your doctors cash for services rendered—like Dr. Paul advocates—"people need to look after themselves" would be a reasonable and workable position.

[J’raxis 270145]

It still sucks.  Its become political suicide these days to say "People need to look after themselves" and keep government out.

True. But until the insurance industry—which the government essentially created with laws promoting and requiring HMOs, and the like—is broken, expecting people to look after themselves healthcare-wise just doesn't work, since no one can afford it on their own.

If we were to get rid of the insurance companies, and go back to a system where you pay your doctors cash for services rendered—like Dr. Paul advocates—"people need to look after themselves" would be a reasonable and workable position.

First you are going to have to get the AMA to release its deathgrip on the number of medical school seats which can be offered.  The AMA has done a MUCH better job at maintaining their barriers to entry than the ABA has.

All these government-sanctioned cartels need to go.

[Little Owl]

If we were to get rid of the insurance companies, and go back to a system where you pay your doctors cash for services rendered—like Dr. Paul advocates—"people need to look after themselves" would be a reasonable and workable position.

Quite so.  Few people realize that health insurance is a big part of why health care costs 20-40 times as much as it should.  (Yes, the AMA monopoly is also a big part of it.  Friedman spelled this out nicely in his book).  Dr. Paul is right, and we don't need to wait to adopt his plan.  Insurance is a risk-management tool, not a cost reduction tool.  Few people seem to get it.  People need health care, nobody needs health insurance.

I know its meddling, but I'd like to see a cash compensation law requiring employers to offer the cash equivalent of their group insurance coverage as an option, so people can shop the open market for insurance (if they want it) instead of buying into whatever collectivist policy their employer chooses.

Imagine your employer saying "Would you like our pain-in-the-ass, pay for almost nothing, tell-you-how-to-live, bureaucratic health insurance plan, or would you prefer another $5-$10k per year?"  See how long those policies last!

[dalebert]

The idea of insurance for unexpected expensive emergencies seems fine. PRoblem is insurance is not really insurance anymore. It has become something else over the years.

[J’raxis 270145]

The idea of insurance for unexpected expensive emergencies seems fine. PRoblem is insurance is not really insurance anymore. It has become something else over the years.

Yep. Modern health insurance would be like using auto insurance to pay for an oil change or homeowners insurance to pay your heating bill.

[dalebert]

The answer is not one system. The answer is getting government out of the way and letting lots of people try lots of different ways to address this issue. You said it yourself, that society isn't going to let people die. As long as government is around and taking half or more of the GNP, people are going to have the attitude that it's their problem to fix, and people are falling through the cracks. When we no longer have that false sense of security, the problem will be addressed better and less people will fall through the cracks. My guess, keeping in mind it's pulled totally out of my ass because I'm only one individual speculating on what 300 million people working organically, is that there would be catastrophic insurance that responsible people will partake of BEFORE they have conditions and charitable organizations taking up the slack.

[Little Owl]

We don't need "a solution" to the health care "crisis".  We need ten thousand solutions for people to choose from.

[J’raxis 270145]

We don't need "a solution" to the health care "crisis".  We need ten thousand solutions for people to choose from.

Well, yes and no—the solution has to begin by breaking the government-sanctioned deathgrip the insurance industry has on healthcare, and dealing with the similar market-distorting effects caused by the AMA's practices (another government-sanctioned cartel) as Malum Prohibitum pointed out. Only then are we going to have a genuine ten thousand solutions available for people to choose from.