Saturday, March 1, 2014
What's Next, Food Insurance?
Our auto insurance doesn't pay for front end alignments and our home insurance doesn't pay for toilet repairs. Where in the hell did we ever get this cockamamie notion that our health insurance should be paying for head colds, acne, Viagra, and now fucking birth control? It makes absolutely zero sense and, yet, this is exactly how we've been predominantly paying for our healthcare (close to 90% of all American healthcare expenses are made via a third party payment system) needs over the past 50 years or so. We have to get away from it, folks (third part payment being the major reason for escalating costs, in my opinion), and, yes, start treating insurance like damned insurance again (i.e., for emergency medicine).
I recall a discussion with one individual, whom I won't name, over the Obamacare mandate. Which we were disputing: me being against, and him being for.
ReplyDeleteHe said something to the effect that auto insurance is mandated, so why not mandate health insurance the same way? It's a rather common argument in favor of forced participation in insurance plans, I'm sure you'd seen it elsewhere, Will.
I did some checking... not only are there some areas in the country, like New York City, where most people don't have auto insurance at all, countrywide, about the same percent lack auto insurance as health insurance.
So, an argument for mandating health insurance in the same way auto insurance is mandated is actually an argument for the status quo.
Insured drivers vary considerably from state to state , and most insured drivers find in therefore necessary to carry UID insurance as well. An at fault driver in an accident with no liability insurance stands to lose his assets: however, most of these
ReplyDeletefolk have little or no assets to start with. States mandate it but either cannot or will not enforce it. Yes, health insurance should
be designed to cover catastrophic
things, not colds, flu and minor
illness; however the problem of
expensive chronic illness remains.
Some cancer patients have huge monthly bills which are out of their reach, costing insurers
more than perhaps 10-20 of their
healthy customers. Actuarial math aside, I can see the day coming when DNA results will be part of the application process.
I think that that's where the high deductible catastrophic plans would come in, BB, a la Whole Foods, a la Indiana state employees, a la Singapore. And, yes, there will be a small segment of the populace that will have to go on some sort of state or charity aid but even there I think that there are some interesting outside the box ideas (some New Jersey cities use nurses and case managers to make house calls and this has significantly cut down on ER visits for the poor, chronically ill).
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't have a problem with mandating health savings accounts and catastrophic care plans....Not that I necessarily enjoy the idea of mandating, mind you, but to get everybody into the system, I really don't see any other option.
ReplyDeleteWill: I find that sort of mandate preferable to to dragooning people into buying commercial products they may or may not need.
ReplyDeleteWith savings, it is still their money, anyway.
Whose taking bets on how long before Mr. Sanders wears out his welcome (intentionally) so he can go whining about being banned again?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWill....better call Terminex....I think you have some unwanted bugs.
He certainly is the epitome of good manners, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't know how that one slipped in. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI think he is making up id's, slipping them pay you, then somehow renaming them back to himself.
ReplyDeleteThis must have given him quite a tingle.
Food insurance would be useful for people who leave something in the fridge for too long. Sounds like a good idea to me. Sign me up!
ReplyDeleteAlright, that one wasn't too bad.
ReplyDeleteIs there ever an end to WD's fecal obsession?
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, you are right. This one caused more of a "laugh with" than the usual WD "laugh at".