« Must Ignore Data | Main | Places or People » Healthy Americans Act17 Apr 2008 12:41 pm Ron Wyden makes a video: I like this ad a lot. It appeals, I think, to the most broadly infuriating aspect of the American system which is not so much that a minority of people are uninsured (a huge problem for them, but not such a huge problem for everyone else) but that the entire population needs to always keep health insurance considerations in mind whenever contemplating any life choice or potential uncontrollable turn of events. Comments (18)
My family has employer provided health insurance, and we consider it to be a HUGE problem. It's so expensive that our employer can't raise salaires. It's maddeningly confusing, it's ever-changing, and we still get seemingly-random extra charges from dentists, doctors, hospitals, after receiving care. We just pay whatever comes because it's too complicated to figure out what's what. 
I'm a self employed single parent with custody. My insurance company loves me because I have no group ability to negotiate. Some years our health insurance equals about a quarter of my salary. My deductibles are $1k a piece. I've got two herniated discs and I always seem to be about one back spasm away from bankruptcy. If I go bankrupt, I most likely also lose custody.
The ad is cute, but the job-quitters seem a little too vindictive. Now that they can leave it seems they're allowed to be jerks, too. I wonder if the ad would be more effective if they were a little more dignified in their walking away rather than playing pranks on their former tormenters. But maybe I'm just too polite.
"The most broadly infuriating aspect of the American system" for me is that we have too many fat people who refuse to exercise. Fundamentally, it is a lack of personal responsibility. Eliminate some of the AVOIDABLE chronic care items (diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, etc. caused by poor diet, smoking, lethargy) and reallocate dollars to the unavoidable items. Certain diseases, illnesses, or accidents are nobody's fault, and the cost of these should be assumed by society. But people who are too lazy and pathetic to take care of themselves should not force the rest of us to pay for their choices.
Anybody remember the episode of The Simpsons when Marge was meeting with her investment club and Skinner's mom goes, "Kids are so fat these days! Any way we can make money off of that?" That last commenter reminded me of that. But we should definitely shoot the fat people, like now.
What about fat people and drug users who pay for their own medical care? Is it right to pass a law that to some extent socializes their healthcare, and then step in and start restricting their rights to eat twinkies and anti-depressants?
I can identify with the ad, but to your words "the most broadly infuriating aspect of the American system which is not so much that a minority of people are uninsured" is a position that shows little empathy for those with inadequate insurance. There are over 46 million Americans with out insurance and over 16 million uninsured. That is at a minimum 62 million Americans without adequate medical insurance. One in five Americans or 20 per cent of the population do not have proper medical insurance. For many others with 'adequate' health insurance the premiums eat up a substantial piece of their salary and if they have a major illness they will go bankrupt because of the deductibles. Of course with the new bankruptcy laws protecting corporations and credit card companies, they will probably be thrown into debtors prison.
I can identify with the ad, but to your words "the most broadly infuriating aspect of the American system which is not so much that a minority of people are uninsured" is a position that shows little empathy for those with inadequate insurance. There are over 46 million Americans with out insurance and over 16 million uninsured. That is at a minimum 62 million Americans without adequate medical insurance. One in five Americans or 20 per cent of the population do not have proper medical insurance. For many others with 'adequate' health insurance the premiums eat up a substantial piece of their salary and if they have a major illness they will go bankrupt because of the deductibles. Of course with the new bankruptcy laws protecting corporations and credit card companies, they will probably be thrown into debtors prison.
I think Jim's got a good point. We go on a construction boom of building debtors prisons! In inner cities! We HIRE AMERICANS, so Steve Sailer is appeased. This SOLVES THE JOBS CRISIS, so El Cid is appeased and nobody has to move away from the inner city to where the jobs are. We LOCK UP BLACK PEOPLE so Chris Ford is appeased. We LET THEM WATCH BASKETBALL so Matt Y is appeased. We GIVE THEM GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE while in prison, so Petey and Jim are appeased. This is so simple. Why didn't somebody think of it before?
that the entire population needs to always keep health insurance considerations in mind whenever contemplating any life choice or potential uncontrollable turn of events. You are grossly exaggerating. More than a quarter of the population have coverage through government health insurance programs that is largely or wholly unaffected by "life choice or potential uncontrollable turn of events." And the vast majority of life choices or uncontrollable events affecting those with private insurance are not going to jeopardize their coverage, either.
That is at a minimum 62 million Americans without adequate medical insurance. One in five Americans or 20 per cent of the population do not have proper medical insurance. What constitutes "adequate" medical insurance? What proportion of Canadians, Brits, Frenchies, etc. have medical coverage that satisfies this definition of "adequate?" For many others with 'adequate' health insurance the premiums eat up a substantial piece of their salary .... "Many?" How many? What proportion of people with "adequate" health insurance are affected in this way? According to Kaiser's most recent (2006) survey, the average employee premium contribution to employer-provided health insurance was around $50/month for single coverage and around $200/month for family coverage. To put this in perspective, the average monthly cell phone bill is also around $50. and if they have a major illness they will go bankrupt because of the deductibles. What is the probability of an American contracting a major illness and then going bankrupt because of the deductibles? How does it compare to his risk of bankruptcy from other causes?
Well, as long as there are enough free trade agreements between the debtors' prisons, then magically the power of comparative advantage will make everyone rich forever The End.
Re: But people who are too lazy and pathetic to take care of themselves should not force the rest of us to pay for their choices. Unless you are "lucky" enough to die of some sudden trauma when still young, you too will run up obscenely high healthcare bills before you die. Something always kills us in the end, and these days that something is likely to be a chronic, expensive degenerative illness. If you live a healthy life that won't happen until you 80+, maybe even 100+, but it will still happen.
"According to Kaiser's most recent (2006) survey..." Well sure, if you only look one specific data point from an outdated industry survey, everything is just hunky-dory. Some more recent data rom the NHCH: - Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 100 percent, compared to cumulative inflation of 24 percent and cumulative wage growth of 21 percent during the same period.2
The amount of money wasted on futile end of life care will need to be addressed in a government-run program. There is only so much $ to go around, and spending $500,000 for a poor-quality week at the end does not make government-run sense. Sorry, old folks, this is the government, and we're here to help.
Some more recent data rom the NHCH: Er, your link cites the very survey you call "an outdated industry survey" for its data. Maybe you should take a look at that data, from Exhibit B. For 2007, the average annual worker contribution to health insurance premiums ranged from $522 to $717 for a single plan, depending on the type of plan. That's $44/month to $60/month. As I said, this is about the same cost as the average cell phone bill. So what's all this nonsense about unaffordable premiums. And yes, health insurance is getting more expensive. That's because health care is a high-technology, labor-intensive service that is continually improving. It costs a lot of money to create and make available all those new drugs and tests and surgeries that are constantly being developed. The average American today has access to a vast array of health care products and services that the richest man in the world could not have obtained a generation ago.
Re: So what's all this nonsense about unaffordable premiums. That's an average, and it hides a lot of nasty reality. First off, that's the premium for the employee only. If you include dependents that copay skyrockets (there are still many employer plans where the worker pays little or nothing for his own insurance, but must kick in all or most of the premium for his dependents). Secondly, lower wage workers generally have higher copays, and at many low-wage jobs the worker has to pay the whole premium himself.
Comments closed May 01, 2008. |
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Heads in the Sand
Is your company's health plan breeding... Bolshevism???
Posted by El Cid | April 17, 2008 1:02 PM