The Health Care Problem

The news is all abuzz with the new Health Care Plan. You know, the one that is about the same as the one we were frantic to replace. Trump originally promised to repeal Obamacare. Then, to repeal and replace. Now, it seems that the plan is to reform it, a little bit. Not too much.

How did we get in this mess? Simple. One word. Government.

I remember, when I was a kid, my Mom paid the doctor $10 when she took me for a check up. Folks did not bother with health insurance because doctors were so cheap. Generally, the only folks who had health insurance were those covered by a work based plan, and in Florida at that time, that meant union workers (and since we were a 'right to work' state, there were not a lot of union workers)

Then came Medicare. Doctors, knowing they could get away with charging the Government anything they wanted, started raising prices. The Medicare funds grew and so did doctor's fees.

Then, poor people couldn't afford doctors, so we got Medicaid. And, yes, with more Government money, came higher doctor's fees. And so it went.

Then, health insurance gained importance. When I first had a job that provided insurance, we had Blue Cross Blue Shield. Office visits has a $10 co-payment. Emergency Room services were at no cost. Hospital stays had a $100 deductible. What did I pay for this policy? Nothing. Not $1. After about 12 years, insurance companies were raising rates, of course, so I began paying $10 every 2 weeks. That's all. Now, you could not insure a mouse for that.

Last time I went to a doctor, I had no insurance. Having to pay out of pocket, I went to a walk-in clinic, trying to get the cheapest price I could. The cost? $85. They took my temperature, weight and blood pressure and listened to my heart and lungs. That is exactly what my doctor did when I was a kid for $10. The difference, years of Government intervention. Yes, I know there has been years of inflation, but that too, is the result of Government meddling.

What is the answer? Well, this will not be popular, but the system must collapse. Pull the Federal Government out of Health Care completely. Let the market find its own, natural level. Believe me, without all of that easy Federal money. rates will fall.

Will this happen? Not a chance. There is too much money and too much politics involved. In addition, Americans have become so convinced that they need Washington to provide cradle-to-grave care that they will riot if the Federal rug is pulled out from under them. We have become a Nation of whiny little wimps who will throw a tantrum if they are ever forced to grow up and act like adult human beings.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. This used to be a damn good country.

America and Obamacare

The news is out. Obamacare premiums are about to go through the roof. Monthly payments are about to jump and, if you have coverage, well, you are going to lose a chunk of your pay.

The whole system was doomed from the start. No matter how the administration twisted the numbers, they just did not add up. Lately, several carriers have said they were  opting out of the whole mess because they were losing money.

Hillary's campaign has put out a statement saying most folks will still be able to get coverage for $75 per month when you consider the assistance from the state funds. Not so fast. There are states   that do not support the plans and even if yours does, you have issues with the deductibles. Some states help some with those, some do not, and in every case, the policy has large deductibles.

There are folks, many, many of them, who are living from check to check, Some are only managing by using credit and will likely never get out of debt. To ask them to pay more is an outrage. I remember, in the 1980s, not that long ago, I paid, through my job, $20 a month for a Blue Cross policy with $5 co-payment for office visits and a $100 deductible for hospitalization. Why have things gotten so out of hand? That can be answered in one word, government. Whenever the government sticks its nose into people's finances, the results are disastrous.

Many of the people who supported Obama are Hillary supporters and I ask them this; what in God's name is wrong with you? You are about to get clobbered with expense and the woman you are voting for is 100% behind this fiasco. She is telling you that she is all for the greater costs about to hit you and you still support her.

And to all those Bernie Sanders supporters who want bigger government, I ask this; are you insane? The disaster that is Obamacare should tell you that the last thing we need is more government. At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur, let me tell you a little story. When I was a kid, an office visit to the doctor costs $10. Now, since the government has become more and more involved in the whole business, that is just the co-payment. There is no rational reason why prices have gone up so much except, that this is always what happens when the government gets involved. Wake up and get over the idea that we need some sort of socialism.

The Obama/Clinton policies on health care are a failure that is about to become a disaster. I cannot believe that in the wake of this announcement there is anyone who is still planning to vote for Clinton. If she is elected, don't any of you dare complain. You can stop this madness.