Time to think about doing away with insurance companies, I’m afraid.
Any time we have government telling us we MUST buy something, under penalty, whose bright idea was it to keep the middle-men involved to scam fat profits from the public which is REQUIRED to buy something?
That’s where our bottom line goes this morning, but along the way we will look at everything from Donald Trump’s rubbing shoulders with mobsters to the problem of exploitation of first people in Bolivia.
So yes, time to brace up with a strong cup of Arabica and see how the world really works, again.
And in this morning’s ChartPack, how our Aggregate Index screams there is a huge rally possible, but only a short-term bounce for the rest of the world’s markets.
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Re health costs; I think insurance is a primary cause of continually rising costs: because we have to support an entire
other industry: IE, Insurance….Having insurance guarantees most
charges will be paid, hence, why not keep raising them? Having the services of bookkeepers, billing depts, accountants, etc, is not the same as supporting insurance companies, which have to make a profit…
George The difference is Trump is up front about it.
That bright idea came from Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation in 1989. It was expanded, but still with mandated private insurance purchase in the 1993 white paper produced as “The Heritage Plan” as response to the threat of “HillaryCare.” The next time it appeared was as Romneycare in Massachusetts in 2006.
We knew we had a problem in 1989 when we spent “only” 11% of GDP on health services, but it had to get worse before libs would grudgingly accept the “free market” solution the cons said they would accept. Peaking at 17%+ of GDP just before the ACA was enacted, the conservatives pulled their usual Lucy with the football act in 2010 so they wouldn’t take the blame for their bad idea.
Thought I might comment on the premise in your first sentence – ‘Time to think about doing away with insurance companies’. (Sorry if I am stating something you might have covered in your column, but I don’t subscribe to Peoplenomics . . .
Insurance, whether through a company or ‘self-insurance’ is a way of managing risk. Of course not everyone has the same level of risk tolerance, nor the resources to handle ‘an adverse event’ like a fire, or a car accident, or a health problem. Which is why there are different levels of coverage, and deductions; Workman’s comp is a form of insurance as is Social Security.
While the current topic is government-required health insurance, it is hardly unique for the state as an entity to take an interest in people having insurance. I mentioned a couple of mandated insurance programs – Workman’s Comp which I know some employers would like to drop is often the only recourse for someone injured on the job especially when an employer is willfully ignoring safety precautions. And Social Security is a lifeline for many older Americans, including myself. (While it could be argued that the monies taken for that purpose during ones working years would be better invested for higher gain – most people don’t have the knowledge nor the will to invest their own monies.) I have other concerns than trying to figure out where to put my funds so I don’t get scammed.
And then there is the ever popular government mandated ‘vehicle insurance’ – I worked some years in both the insurance and emergency services fields – too many people think that auto insurance is something that they can not buy and continue to drive – until of course they get into an accident – and their lives take a decidedly bad turn. (I had an uninsured driver hit me once – and offer to ‘pay me’ for damages and my silence. Sorry I don’t work that way, Bud. And I turned in my accident report, what he did I could care less.)
Unless you have unlimited funds and nerves of steel – most people do not self-insure. Large companies might, but even that has risks . . .
One of the main points of the Peoplenomics piece (you’re missing a lot by not subscribing!) is that if government requires something, it has an obligation to provide a consumer-direct purchase.
For example, there is a direct conflict in having private cos. run prisons. Just like confiscation of property without due process…it’s a bad idea.
People who excusify the “need” for insurance companies in auto and healthcare miss the point that other “necessary for the group good” items work poorly when farmed out to middlemen.
Which is why a government defense department is a better deal that power-abusing private contractors who act (as in New Orleans) without regard for law.
Just as the government runs a flood insurance program, why can’t they run a fire and casualty operation?
I explain it in three words:
Industry, profits, lobbying.
Aw, but then you open yourself up to promoting socialism – not that I am terribly against the idea, as some ‘services’ in modern society are better handled under that model . . . basic insurance handled by the government – upgrades by private company might be doable, I think. Modern society has changed life (evolved, devolved) to the extent that some adaptations are necessary.
I am liberal in some areas, conservative in others. Get back to you about the subscription idea . . .
Two words. Rico act ……..