PeakTrader.com

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http://www.privatemd.com/real-truth-medicare.htm

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1556149.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5A50EB20091106?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

http://www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/cda06-04.cfm

Spending $2 for $1 of benefit or creating an opportunity at the expense of losing two opportunities somewhere else is not a good policy.

The best way to help the poor is provide more opportunities and better safety nets, rather than punish the rich.

The private sector creates opportunities, while the public sector tends to shift opportunities. Government can loan money to the poor (at low rates) rather than give money away.

A voucher system (customed made for individuals) can target how government loans are spent, e.g. for health care, housing, food, clothing, etc. (a cash system may not have the desired effect). When poor Americans start working (from greater opportunities in the private sector), part of their income can be garnished to pay back the loans.

You wouldn't spend $2 for something worth $1. What type of person would allow the government to spend $2 for something worth $1, or force your rich neighbor to squander his money?

More output per person helps the poor, and individuals tend to make better choices with their money than government.

Why government health care fails (from article):

"Suppose you couldn't raise prices, you couldn't control costs, and you were morally obligated to meet the needs of customers who were eager to sue if anything goes wrong. This aptly describes the economics of a doctor's practice today.

By occupation, I am a cardiologist and have been in practice for almost 30 years. For 17 years I helped build a large cardiology group practice and seven of those years I was its managing partner. Therefore, I am very familiar with the business of medical practice and the affect of government regulation. Politically, I long ago registered in the State of California as “None of the Above” because Independent is a political party in this state.

Most consumers consider healthcare a “right”. Somehow, Americans should have a right to excellence in health or better healthcare or easy access. But what most consumers really mean by a “right” is that healthcare should be “free”. That means someone else should pay for it. Some seniors feel that their Medicare payroll tax has already somehow invested in a “trust fund” and therefore their care should be free. Of course, the trust fund is a fiction, and the monies that working Americans pay into Medicare go to pay the expenses of current beneficiaries (my comment: looks like another Ponzi scheme, like Social Security).

Physicians provide services of a similar if not more important kind. However, they are not reimbursed for the time they spend. They are not reimbursed for being more skilled or more efficient or more effective. They are reimbursed by the type of procedure they perform. If a doctor is deemed by his customers to be better than another doctor, reimbursement is still the same...Both at good hospitals and bad hospitals, a fixed fee is paid for every admitting diagnosis.

If you come through the emergency room and are identified as having pneumonia and are admitted to an ICU only to die 6 hours later, the hospital gets $4300. If you are more fortunate and survive in the hospital to be released 16 days later, the hospital gets $4300. It is, therefore, easy to understand why hospitals have no hope of reaping any profit from sick patients under this Medicare system.

Physicians are paid only for the face to face time they spend with you. They are not paid for any preparation for that visit or any services that may come after you leave the office. With the endless forms required for documentation of your visit by Medicare, physicians spend a considerable amount of the visit time either typing into a computer or filling out a form regarding the visit. If they do not, and cannot document the level of service they provide, Medicare can audit them and accuse them of committing fraud...The regulatory compliance under HIPAA and the new privacy guidelines create enormous additional paperwork burdens which represents an unfunded mandate... I employ two wonderful nurse practitioners who help me manage my patients and provide services for them in a manner much better than I could ever hope to accomplish myself. However, unlike the paralegal in my attorney's office, these nurses cannot submit independent fees to Medicare.

As private physicians look ahead, they see nothing but more regulation. There are already 130,000 pages of federal regulation plus state laws, and this will only grow, probably exponentially. They see nothing but more risk with the criminalization of practice and the constant worry about whistleblowers. They see inevitably that there will be less reimbursement for their services. They see less job satisfaction, and they are running out of ways to adapt."

Over 100,000 pages of government regulations created enormous inefficienies and raised costs substantially. So, of course, prices had to rise, one way or another. Current health care reform is the final nail in the coffin to bankrupt the private sector and take it over.

More people would buy health care if it was more affordable (without lowering quantity and quality). Yet, everyone should have health care insurance, because anyone can become injured or sick.