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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (24506)	8/15/2012 11:46:38 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 42652

But playing devil's advocate - What could happen is that almost everyone is denied certain things, but then people with connections call someone and get around the denial. There is a difference between recognizing the existence of some anomalies and establishing systematic favoritism, both in principle and in practical effect. People with connections can often get around things. That's reality. We have to assume a certain amount of that will go on. As a practical matter, we have to treat it as noise, as anomalies. As you say, anyone can have connections. Different people have different connections for different favors. And their impact is only at the margins. As a practical matter, using a connection to get medical treatment that is unsupported by the death panel would depend on how the panel set it up. Most likely it would be simply that Medicare and Medicaid would not pay for it and that insurance companies would not be required to cover it, not that it would be banned. I don't see the death panel ever having the authority to ban some treatment. That would require legislation. So what might having a connection actually get you? Your provider would not have even submitted a claim for something that wasn't covered so it's not like someone could flip a switch and get yours paid. Besides, people with connections most likely can afford to just pay for the treatment themselves. The only place I can see a connection paying off would be if there were criteria for access to some treatment. Then a connected person at the margins of the criteria might be able to get some finagling of the criteria to his advantage. This is small potatoes, at best.

To: TimF who wrote (24506)	8/15/2012 12:38:15 PM
From: Peter Dierks	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

Also its not just Democrats who have connections. The difference is that democrats nest in government. It feels right for them to tell others what to do regardless of how little they actually understand. Republicans strive to achieve in the real world. Some end up staying in public service, but not to the degree that democrats do. You need look no further than the ridiculous new regulations that the OBama administration had promulgated in just a few years. That was not accomplished by newbies. There are legions of leftists nested who had been thwarted in their desires to regulate industry for the eight years previous. There was no corresponding rollback of regulations under President Bush 43 when Clinton finally let go of the office. Occam's razor requires one to recognise that liberals nest in government while conservatives leave to pursue more profitable interests. (Ok I am attributing motive where none is implied.)