From: keithl@klic.rain.com (Keith Lofstrom)
Subject: Re: Trust Me - I'm from the Government to help you
Organization: Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 00:21:09 GMT

In article <1993Jan20.071414.4698@fylz.wa.com> fyl@fylz.wa.com (Phil Hughes) writes:
>
>We don't care about profits in this case.  We are talking about
>eliminiation of an industry that doesn't need to exist -- or at least
>not in its present form.  The costs (the 25% overhead) exists because
>there are multiple insurance companies that the health care providers
>must deal with.  If this unnecessary intermediary is eliminated (by
>having one non-profit insurance plan) the overhead goes away.  It's
>that simple.

The overhead does not go away.  Some people will pay less money.  Some
people will pay more.  Some people will get more service.  Some people
will get less.  Some employers - like very large corporations - will pay
less for insurance.  Chemical/high risk companies will pay a lot less.
Small businesses will pay a little more to a lot more.  Some will go out
of business.  But then, since we are looking for "simple", let's get rid
of all those messy complications like competition and freedom.

I pay for major medical insurance.  Myself.  I pay anything up to a few
thousand dollars a year out of my own pocket.  No overhead for the small
stuff.   You can do the same thing yourself.  Again, no overhead.  I've
opted out.  You are taking away my option.

>I don't understand why this is such a problem for Americans.
>Americans are willing to shop at Pace and other large-scale retailers
>that eliminate the middleman.  The Canadian health care system is
>exactly the same -- eliminate unnecessary middlemen and the cost goes
>down.

Let's say that "Pace" gets a law passed collecting $100 a month from
everbody.  Then, you can go to the store and get your allotment - so
many cans of beans, cartons of cigarettes, and so forth per month.
Well, you may not want cigarettes, but you get what everyone gets.
If you want something different, you can pay for that too, but you
can't opt out.  Does this sound like heaven or hell to you?  It is
even more important to have multiple types of health care, and multiple
ways of paying for it.

I don't like the current behavior of insurance companies either.  I 
avoid them where I can.  But far more than I dislike insurance companies,
I dislike the behavior of government.  I can understand why others like
the government, and think people like me are loony - the world can seem
pretty complicated, and the government can hide that complication from us. 
Unfortunately, the results of that hiding is that people are no longer
motivated to take personal responsibility to cure the complications,
so the complications build and build, eventually overwhelming any
possible restraints.  Anyone who can follow a historical trend line can
see that happening now.  It scares the hell out of me.

Bill Clinton wants to be the new John Kennedy.  Please keep in mind
that Kennedy brought us the Vietnam War, the massive buildup in ICBMs,
and a number of other things that on careful examination turned out
to be very bad things.  Now some of you want to give Clinton control of
life and death.  How can this possibly be a good idea?  What can he do
that you can't do for yourselves?

Keith
-- 
Keith Lofstrom         keithl@klic.rain.com       Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Power ICs
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