On Healthcare Reform:
Alright, I can’t hold my tongue any longer on this issue. Health care consumes over 15% of the country’s GDP, and you want to ram through a bill in the next 2 1/2 weeks that will completely reform it? What happened to bipartisan efforts? There are other ways to get this done, and they certainly don’t need to be acted on by August. Here’s MY idea (and this is by no means original):
(a) Get rid of employer sponsored coverage. Workers that receive coverage through their employers are getting government subsidized health care that puts the rest of us at a disadvantage when shopping for health insurance with our taxed dollars. Drop the benefits and add the money saved onto worker’s (taxed) salaries. Better yet, the government could offer an income tax refund on money spent on health insurance. Sound familiar? This gives everyone the same purchasing power and puts consumers in charge of their insurance. Once consumers are paying their own premiums they may think twice about visiting the doctor for a cold. Employers don’t cover homeowner or auto insurance, why should they fund health insurance?
(b) Promote competition. This can largely be accomplished by removing restrictions that prohibit us from purchasing insurance across state lines. Premiums could drop as much as 15% as a result.
Two ideas that don’t cost any money and would go a long way to reform health care. ObamaCare, on the other hand, would cost $1-2 trillion in the midst of a recession, and promises to save money? Obama proposes to fund the new plan in part with $500+ billion in savings from reducing waste in the Medicare system. If you can find $500 billion in waste in one government run program, why the hell would you start a new, broader one?
“That is why those who are betting against this happening this year are badly mistaken," Obama said. "We are going to get this done. We will reform health care. It will happen this year. I’m absolutely convinced of that.”
President Obama, I’m betting against you.
