Last Saturday many concerned Americans watched in horror as the House passed the healthcare reform bill. If this bill makes it through the Senate, it would massively overhaul the way healthcare is delivered in this country. Today, obviously, we don’t have a perfect system, but this legislation takes all the mistakes we are making with healthcare and makes them worse. Most of what is wrong with healthcare stems from decades of government intervention and the resulting unintended consequences.
But the government’s prescription for the ills caused by intervention is always more intervention. We see this not only in healthcare policy, but also in foreign policy, in economic policy, and in monetary policy – basically, in all areas of public policy. It was even claimed that the House bill would increase competition in healthcare, and thereby improve the private sector’s business model for insurance.
It is fascinating that politicians would use the language of the free market in this way to justify more corporatism. This demonstrates a couple of things. One, that politicians truly do not understand the very basic tenets of a free market. By definition, a free market is free from government intervention. But once a little intervention is accepted as legitimate, politicians will blame the problems created by their intervention on the free market and present themselves as saviors that must intervene even more.
It also demonstrates that politicians know that Americans still believe the free market is a good thing. People know and understand that competition among businesses is better for the consumer than a monopoly. However, competition between a private business and a government or government-favored entity is not real competition.
In real competition, your competitor can go bankrupt if they do a bad job. Everyone knows a government program is forever, no matter how poorly it performs. In real competition, efficiency is necessary for survival. In government programs, waste is rewarded as budgets are often determined by how much money a department is able to consume in a year. In real competition, one business does not have regulatory or taxation authority over its competitors. In real competition, businesses get sued and punished for breaking contracts and defrauding people, and are kept accountable in this way. But just try to sue the government when you are unjustly harmed by it!
The reason real competition is a good thing is because good businesses get bad ones out of the consumer’s way. Can the government put someone out of business? Most certainly! But it will have the opposite effect: an otherwise good business will be replaced by a poorly performing government agency, or a government-favored monolithic business that behaves almost like a government agency.
If Washington really wanted to give consumers more choices they would remove legislative and regulatory barriers to competition across state lines for health insurers. They would remove barriers for new and innovative models of healthcare and tort reform. They wouldn’t have run so many church and charitable hospitals out of business. Washington is keenly interested in healthcare reform, but it is certainly not going to increase competition or to expand your options for healthcare.
Fortunately, more and more people are awakening to this truth.
I love it when some politician directs himself to the public as if we were all idiot children. Oh yeah, gotta defend the free market, regulation is bad. Especially when you try to regulate something like health care, public utilities, or banks. When you regulate businesses that provide basic services like this you effectively keep them from charging anything they want and bleeding the public dry with their inflationary ambition. In a few years, this guy and others like him, will be praying in a cave for god to send the rapture.
#2, Do you know where banking regulations came from?
Too much competition between the small guys and the big guys. The big guys didn’t like it so they paid the politicians to pass laws to protect their turf.
http://tinyurl.com/ykyjpes
Sigh… more libertarian BS. Instead of posing inane and irrelevant hypothetical questions, LL, why don’t you explain to all us collectivists how getting rid of the EPA, the FDA, the USDA, the SEC, the OSHA, and all those burdensome government regulatory agencies will make us all “free” again.
Whatta maroon.
Ron Paul is still living in the days before the MRI and heart transplant. We now live in a world where, no matter what the situation, there are going to be massively expensive medical procedures that *need* to get done, and the only way to make them cost effective to patients is to distribute the cost. That’s what *all* health insurance is for.
The wider you distribute the cost, the more cost savings can occur for the individual. Increased competition between small businesses will mostly only improve cost efficiencies within each business; not so much the cost of actual healthcare.
Sometimes, one large system *is* better than many small ones. In retail, food, even schools, competition is a great boon. With insurance, it’s not so much.
Charitable hospitals didn’t go out of business because of the government. They went out of business because MRI machines cost between 1 and 3 million dollars, and paying a doctor and staff for a 6-7 hour heart surgery isn’t cheap either. And no matter what the state of the court system or insurance system, there will always be extremely expensive medical procedures that need to be done.
As much as I admire the man, I also think Ron Paul needs to be introduced to the 21st century.
‘Government Intervention Always Causes More Problems’
Always. Apparently.
If ‘more and more people are awakening to this truth’ they are truly idiots. Or at least not part of any shared reality.
Always = dogma.
#5 simongiln
Agreed.
I actually have a lot of time for Ron Paul. He does appear to at least be saying what he thinks, as opposed to parroting some party crap. In particular I like his auditing the Fed stance.
That said he does tend to act as if all problems have the same answer, which shows all he has is a hammer.
Quick, somebody replicate 650
copies of him and replace everyone
in congress and the white house
with them for eight years and
lets see what happens.
(the extra replicants are for
the cia/intelligence agencies
and lobbyists to snipe at)
WOW…it’s amazing what some people
“hear”
-this explains why “the left”
is forever mired knee deep in
political infighting.
someone from the right post
something equally dumbfounding
so i can keep the snide remarks
*cough* “on balance”
-s
#3 LL
Some people love historical precedence. How did we get here? Who’s responsible? What a waste of time! The real interesting questions, where are we? and how do we get where we need to go? are ignored. Maintaining status quo is what has got us into this mess, and only benefits those who couldn’t care less about all those seniors who lost their retirement money to the lack of regulation, or the families made homeless by reckless foreclosure. Don’t bother trying to explain to me how those ignorant bastards took out loans they couldn’t afford or made risky investments, cause then I’d have to ask, who? the bankers or their ‘clients’ (victims).
I like Ron Paul, but hes dead wrong about competition being a good thing in our current years and resulting in better prices and services for the average person, including anyone who seeks better health care.
The big guys swallow up the small guys till we’re left with only 2 or 3 providers of any particular service, and when there are no more small guys to eat and make money from the big guys turn to the only remaining ways to increase their profits; namely increasing charges, reducing quality, and reducing their workforce.
This might be fine for a widget-maker, but its NOT when it comes to people’s health.
Yes, any socialized system is going to have its flaws, but compared to how the US system is so utterly fucked up (being raped counts as a pre-existing condition for example) there is nowhere lower it can sink.
Why do Americans believe that they are the one shining beacon of health care out of every other western country? Especially when ONLY the US DOESN’T have a public system.
My uncle who resides in Florida is recovering from prostate cancer and his medical bill came to just under $500,000 for treatment and care that would have only cost me a couple of hundred here in Australia.
Oh, did I mention that he HAS private health care insurance in the US, and I have no insurance in my country?
Its truly fucked up and will likely bankrupt him, even though he paid his premiums to a greedy insurer for the illusion that he would be covered for any health emergency.
We’ve already seen that the government does a really bad job running things, they’ve already effectively bankrupted Medicare and Social Security. Giving them billions more to mis-manage seems like a suicidal move.
The problem is, none of the reforms seeks to fix any of the problems in the healthcare system. Healthcare costs are obscenely expensive because of the insurance industry and because of the legal system. When you have ambulance-chasing shyster lawyers filing hundreds of class-action lawsuits, then advertising in TV for as many clients as they can get, you’ve got problems, but nobody is willing to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Healthcare costs rise because doctors have to carry huge malpractice insurance policies that can cost $100k or more per year, even if the doctor has never had a problem in their life.
Let’s not forget that both insurance companies and the government don’t pay off the hospitals what they owe them, they get pennies on the dollar for billable expenses which has made hospitals raise the rates sky-high so that insurance companies and the government will pay what it actually costs to perform these services.
I oppose *ALL* healthcare reform until these two serious problems are addressed, but we know neither ever will be because both have huge lobbies in Washington. Politicians never touch their cash cows.
#3, loser,
If you have something to post, then post it. A link to some bullshit, asswipe, 5,000 word article that says nothing important is childish and disrespectful on your part.
This is why you are stuck in the ninth grade. You haven’t figured out how to take a quote from an article instead of expecting your audience to do all the work for you by reading bullshit.
Have you stopped masturbating in public yet?
The problem is we still have too many looking to government to help them out. I think the government should go only as far as to force insurance companies not to drop or deny people with preexisting conditions. I think a very basic insurance plan should be offered by insurance companies to people without insurance and to have everyone at least have this insurance. But have this run by a private insuring company. The government again feels like its a right for people to have insurance. Well, then treat it like car insurance and force them to at least buy the minimum. I think many people make the choice not to pay for insurance because they want that money for something else.
Some I am sure cannot even afford a few bucks more a week. So I don’t understand how our government will create a affordable plan for those low income people. One thing is for certain. Government cannot do a good job at this and we all know it!
#5 – for all you collectivists:
Up here in Canada, we have distributed the costs of health care as widely as possible, resulting in the individual savings that you mentioned.
But, because there is no profit incentive, here in BC we have 4 (maybe 5) MRI machines for the whole province (population 2 million+). So waiting for a “free” MRI can take months.
Or, I can drive across into Washington state, where nearby Bellingham has a half-a-dozen MRI clinics – for $1,000 I can get an MRI for a specific area, or for $2,000 I can get a “whole body” scan. No appointment necessary.
Take your pick. But remember, right now you still have a choice. Once health-care is given “each according to his need” you won’t have a choice any more.
I just want government to leave me the fuck alone.
If the streets get dirty, I don’t give a shit. I pay for clean water, sewers, and roads every year when I write out the god damn property tax bill. Otherwise, stop writing fucked up laws, and get the hell out of my face. And if I want to carry, I will.
I wish I lived in Ron Paul’s dream world. Just a minute, forgot about the LSD in the freezer. Wait 30 minutes. Now I’m living Ron Paul’s world for the next 12 hours.
This is the same crap Reagan was pushing. Get rid of regulations and taxes and the big corporations will take good care of me.
#11, Cephus,
We’ve already seen that the government does a really bad job running things,
Hhmmm, so are you suggesting we should privatize the military? Why stop there, why not privatize the courts, police, firefighting, …
Healthcare costs are obscenely expensive because of the insurance industry …
But something tells me you don’t want to reform the insurance industry.
When you have ambulance-chasing shyster lawyers filing hundreds of class-action lawsuits, then advertising in TV for as many clients as they can get, you’ve got problems, but nobody is willing to touch that with a 10-foot pole.
How does a drug company mass marketing a drug that causes death or serious injury cause medical costs to rise? Such class actions suits are because the companies lied and covered up the damages. This is a tort action, not a medical problem.
Nice way to divert attention though.
Healthcare costs rise because doctors have to carry huge malpractice insurance policies that can cost $100k or more per year, even if the doctor has never had a problem in their life.
And would you show us the doctor paying $100,000 + insurance? Please? Just show us one doctor paying that amount that has never had any problems. Come one, you can do it, just one.
Let’s not forget that both insurance companies and the government don’t pay off the hospitals what they owe them, they get pennies on the dollar for billable expenses which has made hospitals raise the rates sky-high so that insurance companies and the government will pay what it actually costs to perform these services.
Woah, another piece of unsubstantiated bullshit. So an insurance company negotiates with a doctor to pay $45 for a visit but the doctor now has to charge $75 for an uninsured patient to make up for it? Or a hospital charges $1,800 for X-Rays but only bills the insurance company $150.
Did you ever stop to think that maybe that doctor visit is only worth $45 or an X-Ray is only worth $150? What you ignored is doctors try to get into an insurance company plan so they will have patients, the same with the hospitals.
I oppose *ALL* healthcare reform until these two serious problems are addressed,
You oppose insurance companies negotiating with doctors and hospitals? A free enterprise activity.
You oppose people injured by a drug, the maker knowingly lied about, to seek redress through our courts? The very basis of our jurisprudence and rule of law system?
Phuck man, you do have issues. What happened to the problems with the insurance companies you mentioned in your second paragraph?
4, If you watch “Food Inc”, they’ll talk about how the FDA and USDA are pretty much controlled by the food industry. So much for looking out for the common guy.
As for the EPA, I have known a number of mom & pop gas stations who got run out of business due to the excessively high standards that only large corporate gas stations can afford.
That being said, not all regulations are bad, but it’s naive to think that every regulation is well-intentioned.
Although I’m not a fan of Ron Paul because of his stance on national defense, he makes a lot of fiscal sense. The key point he makes is in the next to the last paragraph.
12, And somehow you’re a standard-bearer for maturity? LOL.
14, The liberals here won’t believe you. They will argue you’re a right-wing plant.
#12, Ah, ah, aaahhh.
You forgot the magic the answer. You can’t talk to me until you give the magic answer.
If you wish to talk about something serious, you have to show you are serious by answering why you would sacrifice others to save your wife.
#4, Sigh… more libertarian BS
“…there was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger, ‘and this will always be the man in the street.’ Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology… Hatred and contempt must be directed at particular individuals.”
-H. Trevor-Roper (ed), The Goebbels Diaries, p. XX, cited in Regan, Geoffrey. 1987. Great Military Disasters. New York: M. Evans and Company.
Interesting you guys never give valid responses, just “crude, clear and forcible” insults.
#18, You’ll never get anything out of these guys but “Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad.”
“your competitor can go bankrupt if they do a bad job. Everyone knows a government program is forever, no matter how poorly it performs. In real competition, efficiency is necessary for survival. In government programs, waste is rewarded”
This is wrong.
Medical insurance ISNT being able to sue a doctor. Thats malpractice insurance.
If a company raises Rates on YOU, because you went to the doctor TO MUCH?? is that competition?? Or 1 doctor SAID to “do THIS” and he is WRONG, medical coverage covers it, but RAISES your rates, while you try to find a doctor that REALLY knows whats WRONG.
“The reason real competition is a good thing is because good businesses get bad ones out of the consumer’s way. ”
REALLY??
No they dont. The BIG corp makes SMALLER companies, that TAKE THE HIT. In most cases, you are paying 2-3 Business’s.. If 1 SCREWS UP, it GOES AWAY…as a LLC(limited liability corporation, Look it up) they have NO PROBLEMS, as the OWNER is not responsible.
“If Washington really wanted to give consumers more choices they would remove legislative and regulatory barriers to competition across state lines for health insurers.”
Theres 2 parts to this.
1. the regulations were to CURB these big business’s.. And to STOP the FLY BY NIGHT companies that were in it for the FLASH BANG MONEY and Disappear(made by the LARGER corp).
2. it would be GREAT if the Hospital Orgs, could make their OWN insurance.. Less middle men. Look up Kaiser permanentie..
do you want the TRUTH??
If Congress would GET THERE HEADS out of their BUTTS, and let the MEDICAL comunity go thru the RULES AND REGS for Medicare/medicade..and FIX IT…it would be better. 800,000 pages of CRAP. ALL those pages created by persons that DONT KNOW MEDICINE.
#23, “The reason real competition is a good thing is because good businesses get bad ones out of the consumer’s way. ”
REALLY??
No they dont.
They would if the government didn’t protect the big ones.
For thos that like regulation so much, take a look at the state of affairs in Denmark, Sweden, UK – the systems has failed big time. It beats me why you are so keen of doing the same mistakes.
Ron Paul is giving a crystal clear message, that competition works, that is shall be unhindered in its form my anyone, big biz, politicians and the likes. Out of that you will be served well and at least cost to you and society.
And, tort reform – litigation kills your country!
What RP says makes sense if you agree that health is a commodity. Commodities are easy to put a price on. People can agree on a price per barrel of oil or a bushel of grain. How much is your health worth? Is there a scarcity of health? My health is worth everything I have and that is true for most people. The big corporations who sell drugs know this. The corporate run HMO’s know this. How much health is available to a person or persons? If one person has to much health does another go without? Is there limited amount of health? I think that the answer to these questions is no. The only limitation on the amount of health I can have are held within myself and how much money I can devote to maintaining my health. The cost of healthcare is an artificial scarcity. If we did as RP advocates and move all our armed forces home and then take that money and use it for domestic purposes, everyone’s healthcare could be paid for as well as paying off the national debt etc.
Our ONLY hope would be to turn the whole thing over to Ralph Nader.
#26, Is there a scarcity of health?
No, but there is a scarcity of health CARE.
Saying there is a scarcity of health is like saying there a scarcity of hunger? How much is a full stomach worth? How much is good health worth?
Health care, like food, is something you buy to fulfill a want, something you desire.
And like any other commodity, the more you pay, the more you get.
I love competition. I firmly believe that open and fair competition leads better and less expensive products. That’s why I wish the health insurance industry was a real competitive industry, rather than a sham of competition.
Recent studies (one here – http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/07/why-so-little-competition.html) have shown that the health insurance industry is anything but competitive. Shoot – here in North Carolina, Blue Cross/Blue Shield controls 85% of the private insurance market (if I recall the last article I read about it correctly). BCBS is my provider, and they have spent $1million at a golf tournament while raising my rates, cut benefits while raising my rates, and most recently spent many thousands sending pre-addressed post cards for me to send to my Democratic Senator asking her to vote against reform… while raising my rates 11%. So, in theory competition is wonderful. But that does not match this reality we are in.
Adding a public option will force competition into the existing non-competitive market.
As to the “horrors” of “the Canadian health care plan”, check out http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/canada.asp… First, BC has 22 MRI machines – not many, and still less than most places even on a per capita basis, but more than “4 maybe 5”. And there are others available in private clinics. Yes, you have to pay for those, but you are not alone… My wonderful BCBS whacked MRI imaging from my benefits years ago.
I’m all for letting the market figuring this thing out, but only with a market free of monopolies and oligopolies. Ours is not free. The government needs to jump in.
Zybch said:
My uncle who resides in Florida is recovering from prostate cancer and his medical bill came to just under $500,000 for treatment and care that would have only cost me a couple of hundred here in Australia.
Oh, did I mention that he HAS private health care insurance in the US, and I have no insurance in my country?
Its truly fucked up and will likely bankrupt him, even though he paid his premiums to a greedy insurer for the illusion that he would be covered for any health emergency.
The purpose of government is to restrain evil (Romans 13:3-4) and your excellent argument proves that Ron Paul doesn’t understand his job or the Bible.
#30, If you truly believe this, health care being the most regulated industry in the country, would run smoothly without any problems.
And since it doesn’t, either the regulation must not work or the government is too incompetent to implement it properly.
In either case, do you prefer more incompetence or more regulations that won’t work?