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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: geode00 who wrote (214401)	1/24/2007 2:40:43 PM
From: neolib	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Sure you can. Let's try. On no you don't! You are taking items which have been payed for, or at least payment is obligated for. You might be making an argument for what a given society decides is a "right" but generating the payment for it is an entirely different matter. You cannot declare wealth, at least not for the long haul. You can create shorter term distortions (say by printing money) but you must pay in the end. The problem with providing universal health coverage, is that health care consumption will then rise, and somewhere the payment must come from. Where? This is the fundamental disconnect that nobody addresses in the health care debate: The payment mechanisms are decoupled from the consumption mechanisms, in a way that is totally different from most other commerce. Suppose you bought "Transportation Insurance" rather than buying a car, and when you "needed" a new car you consulted with a "Transportation Specialist" who signed off on a prescription for a new vehicle, which you got from a "Transportation Maintenance Organization", or perhaps a "Preferred Transportation Provider" who not only handed you the new car for only a low deductible charge (or no charge depending on your plan) but also controlled your choice of vehicle (or not depending on the plan) and who sent you monthly Insurance bills, and then continued to up the rates yearly (or more often) depending on conditions. I think under such a system we would all drive crap cars in a few decades, and pay through the nose for the pleasure of it. With medicine, this is precisely the system we have, and most people think the solution is to make it universal. Ouch!