Are we all strangers in our own country?

Awesome. It's about time the government started capping profits and determining who can make what in this country. Fuck the private sector. Oh, and hopefully the government will also cap spendng on research and development. Fuckin' wasteful spending.

 

Many industries have their profits (and a lot else) limited or regulated by the government. Automobile insurance rates are regulated by states, dairy product prices regulated, etc. You may not like it, but it's not correct to imply it's an unheard of new development.

 

You know what really cuts into insurance company profits? Paying for medical treatment for sick people.

We shouldn't make them do that, either. It puts a crimp in their style.

 

Medicaid.

 

Man cannot survive on caribou meat alone.

Fish, 'opihi and tropical fruit? You just might stand a chance.

 

I'm not going to sit here and say nothing needed to be done to health care. But this subject should not have been even touched in the current economy. I think a lot of people are a hell of a lot more worried about jobs and the unemployment rate skyrocketing than they are about this issue. It annoys the hell out of me.

 

Well, if I lose my job my family loses health insurance. So no, I don't think this is a bad time to address this.

 

That's a huge part of the problem that should be reformed. Employment & insurance need to be separated.

No one looses their car insurance, home insurance, or life insurance when they lose their job -- because they're not linked.

Employers shouldn't be providing health insurance either. It's a burden for employers -- huge time & staff requirements, as well as money.

If everyone had to but insurance on their own -- and could spend pre-tax money on it, and could buy across state lines, you'd see real competition and lower prices.

You can't turn on the TV without seeing ads for Geico or some other car insurance. That's what it would be like for health insurance. They'd be seeking you out. Competing for you.

They also ned to stop mandating what insurance policies have to cover. Let me build my own insurance plan.

Employer based insurance is the problem. That's what needs to be reformed.

 

So ... stop mandating what insurance companies have to cover, and make everyone buy their own policy, Geico-style.

I'm sure that would work WONDERFULLY for diabetics, asthmatics, etc. I'm sure they wouldn't get charged double, triple, quadruple the price because they happen to have a condition that actually needs treatment.

Of course they wouldn't. Insurance companies are good, benevolent types. They would never, ever seek to profit from the suffering of others.

Also, different states have different requirements for how insurance companies operate, etc.
Mandating that they be able to sell across state lines seems an awful lot to me like the federal government sticking its nose in state government business. Aren't you supposed to hate that?

 

You can mandate what they have to offer. Don't mandate what I have to buy.

 

Yeah, anyone with a pre-existing condition would be against that.

 

No, there wouldn't. The companies would all band together and boost their rates.