[ExI] health care individual mandate

spike spike66 at att.net
Mon Nov 9 21:51:51 UTC 2009


 

> ...On Behalf Of Jeff Davis
> Subject: Re: [ExI] health care individual mandate
> 
> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 5:43 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> 
> > ...the public option is very expensive...
> 
> Really?
> 
> We've heard a lot of partisan palaver, but what is fact and 
> what is hoo hah?
> 
> You may recall the claim that govt run plan would drive the 
> private insurers out of business.  What other cause could 
> there be than that the govt insurance would be cheaper?  That 
> is, so much cheaper that the private insurers couldn't 
> compete -- couldn't make the profits so essential to their survival..
> 
> Perhaps there's another explanation
> 
> Best, jeff davis

Hi Jeff!  Welcome back, it's been a while.

I should have specified "this version of the public option" for the
independent estimates run over a trillion dollars.  My own reasoning is that
it is primarily set up for those who cannot get insurance through private
insurers.  In this way, the private insurers would be happy to have the
government take those individuals.  I notice they seems to be no objection
on their part to the current house of reps plan.  

We can imagine those who are already really sick, or have conditions that we
know are very expensive, as the primary customer for government insurance.
Of course under those circumstances, the public option would necessarily
cost more than the private companies can offer.  The private insurance
companies wouldn't mind, because they couldn't take those patients anyway.
Private insurance might actually come out ahead: they insure the healthy,
then when their clients get sick, they figure out a way to toss them to
government.

What I can envision is that Uncle Sam takes on the responsibility for care
of those who have the bad, expensive stuff: severe diabetes, cancer,
emphysema, all manner of dreadful conditions, then in the end it really just
doesn't do a hell of a lot for them.

Actually the part that I am watching more carefully is the individual
mandate.  It looks to me like even if that is a good thing, it is illegal.
The government doesn't have the authority to require the proles to buy
anything.  I sure as hell can't see how that power is derived from the
constitution.

spike






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