You are a real piece of work Lane... I post myriad articles about how some of these drug companies are plainly at the point of extorting the healthcare system and you say 'punishment'.
Yes, indeed, you do post and post and post them. And you clearly disapprove of their behavior. Which warrants my conclusion that you are focused on them as bad actors deserving of punishment. I do read, you know. I concluded that based on your prior work and you just confirmed it yet again.
As for medicare, perhaps it would have been interesting if you had lived in a world without it and had to pay the cost of insurance for an older person.
And that speaks to your second focus, the premiums. You suppose that my perspective would change were my situation different.
But I am fully capable of wearing two hats, of separating my self interest from my analysis of system design. When there is a conflict between my self interest and a worthy system, I will support the system, although perhaps more tepidly than I would if it coincided with my interests. As it turns out, the current system both sucks and is not in my best interest. That's a twofer. No conflict.
My personal situation is that I pay regular Medicare premiums plus an additional means-adjusted surcharge plus regular Blue Cross premiums so I do pay the cost of insurance for an older person. I have used hardly any medical services and I have paid for the occasional medication and all my dental care out of pocket. I may some day get my money's worth but so far I am way, way, way behind in my usage. I also pay taxes that support the subsidies and the general fund.
It would be nice for me personally if the system were to be configured so that costs weren't so high. Unfortunately, the system is poorly configured and, on balance, drives up costs, instead. It's really annoying to hear the very folks who, without any sense of irony, favor policies that drive up costs complaining about their (subsidized by the likes of me) premiums. |
