Quote:
|
Originally Posted by willravel
That's probably due to technological improvements. It's much, much cheaper to do laser eye surgery now.
|
Whatever the reason, the free market is working.
Quote:
|
And things of great value, like medicine, can be hiked up to create higher profits to the detriment of the consumer.
|
Only when supply is artificially restricted. When profits are excessive in the free market, it is temporary because alternatives will become available.
Perhaps there is a role for government, similar to how we came up with the solution to polio
Quote:
|
My dad has bad cholesterol and we have a family of severe heart disease. He exercises and diets. It's only lessened by medicine. He has two choices: take medicine or risk death. I'd hardly call that a choice.
|
The medicine does not lower the risk of death to zero. High cholesterol is most common in the USA because of lifestyle. Most people can adjust their lifestyle and lower their cholesterol to normal ranges.
Quote:
|
Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005. The number of uninsured rose 1.3 million between 2004 and 2005 and has increased by almost 7 million people since 2000.
|
Again, those numbers are interesting but what percentage of those people choose not to have health insurance and could purchase it?
Quote:
Rapidly rising health insurance premiums are the main reason cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. Over the past five years the average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of 12 percent annually
http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml
|
I don't think health coverage is the responsibility of an employer. As the head of my family, I see providing healthcare coverage for my family as my responsibility. As long as people pass that responsibility on to others we will have a healthcare problem in my opinion.
Quote:
|
No one can do anything about it, so we might as well bend over and take it, right? That doens't sound like something a self-described wolf would do.
|
People generally spend more money and time on their automobiles than they do on healthcare. I some states every automobile is insured at a cost to the owner, but we choose not to insure every human.
Quote:
|
So you'd change government to better regulate medicine? That's a bit of a 180 from what you've said above.
|
I see a role for government, but a limited role.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by seretogis
The obvious solution is the abolition of the income tax. *eyelash flutter*
|
Bingo.
Tax consumption. Don't tax the fruits of labor, savings and investment. Tax exhorbidant lifestyles. that is how to tax the rich. Rich people can avoid income taxes based on their ability to defer income or live off of capital. Just ask Edward Kennedy.