Quote:
Originally Posted by powerclown
And maybe also explain the wisdom (or lack thereof) of handing over anything to a bureaucracy that doesn't run anything efficiently, or try explaining that profit motives, competition, and individual ingenuity have always led to greater cost control and effectiveness. The list goes on and on.
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It seems to me that the free market is not working very well when it comes to health care. In my opinion it is not so much the insurance companies that are the high cost drivers but the non-competitive nature of the prices charged by health care providers. Even if we squeeze the profit out of insurance it is a small percent of the overall costs because of the increasing prices charged by hospitals, doctors, etc..
I watched the McCain town hall the other day and if I understand the Republican plan they want to also make insurance companies eliminate pre-conditions and lifetime caps. They don't want a government option but instead want to give each family $5000 ($2500 for individuals) to help purchase private insurance. I don't think it will take very long for the increased insurance costs due to the proposed reforms to eat up the 5 grand.
Neither party seems to address very well the problem of how to keep the health care providers from increasing prices much more than the average person's income. One thing that President Obama talked about is limiting people's health care costs to about 10% of their income per year. If they pass nothing else, I would like to see this go through. Losing everything I have worked for and bankrupting my family due to an accident or illness is what concerns me the most.