Saturday, August 08, 2009

First, Do No Harm

What if the government were responsible for universal car care?



-Wes

2 comments:

Keith said...

Very funny Wes,

But at least the poor sap trying to get his brakes fixed has the ability to take PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! Yes, we have that goverment run/socialist program that provids transportation via trains and buses. For those who cannot afford to own and maintain a car, they can at least get to work by this less costly method. Nothing comparable exists in health care where it is either premium deluxe health care or no health care.

Should we privatize our fire and police departments? How about the military (actually I think Bush almost did privatize the military in Iraq)? How about turning all road maintenance over to private companies and they can charge tolls on ALL our roads?

We need the goverment to intercede where the private market fails, and clearly insurance companies have no compelling interest in the public good and have failed to provide adequate. affordable insurance to a large segment of our population. They only look out for the interests of their shareholders. That is why the goverment needs to step in now, and needed to step in years ago when it created the Medicare program.

(Your caffeinated buddy)

Andrew_M_Garland said...

To Keith,

Is Medicare an acceptable example for you of a nicely run social service? How about Medicaid, which is aimed by the government directly at the poor? Possibly children are the most deserving of the poor.

ObamaCare and the Doctor

Dr. Zane F. Pollard posted a frightening article describing Medicaid, and by extension ObamaCare.

Medicaid pays for medical services to the poor, and in this case to poor children who face vision impairment or blindness. Regardless, Medicaid denies and delays their care.

Consider that Medicare/caid are intentionally underpaying for the medical care that they mandate.

The government is proud of how they are negotiating lower prices for the 'caids, but they are still going bankrupt with exploding costs.

Hospitals (and partly doctors) are caught in the middle. They survive by raising prices on the sick who can pay (the insured). Then, the government (and you) blames the insurance companies for raising premiums to cover the increasing prices for hospitals and doctors.


Boston Medical Center Sues Mass Medicaid


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Boston Medical Center's complaint claims the state is underfunding the hospital by $181 million annually by failing to adequately cover the cost of care for Medicaid, Commonwealth Care and uninsured patients.

BMC CEO Elaine Ullian: "This institution was and remains an enthusiastic supporter of the state's health care reform law. But it should not and cannot be financed on the backs of the poor. We hope our suit serves as a cautionary tale to federal policymakers as they take up national health care reform."
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