Sowell: An Old 'New' Program

Creators Syndicate ^ | November 5, 2013 | Thomas Sowell

[jazusamo]

Like so many things that seem new, ObamaCare is in many ways old wine in new bottles.

For example, when confronted with the fact that millions of Americans stand to lose their existing medical insurance, as a result of ObamaCare, defenders of ObamaCare say that this is true only when those people have "substandard" insurance.

Who decides what is "substandard"? What is older than the idea that some exalted elite know what is good for us better than we know ourselves? Obama uses the rhetoric of going "forward," but he is in fact going backward to an age when despots told everybody what they had better do and better not do.

ObamaCare is old in yet another way. One of the fundamental reasons why private medical insurance has gotten so expensive is that politicians in state after state have mandated what this insurance must cover, regardless of what individuals want.

Insurance covering everything from baldness treatments to sex-change operations is a lot more expensive than insurance covering only major illnesses that can drain your life's savings. Now these mandates have moved up from the state to the federal level.

Insurance is an institution for dealing with risks. It is a costly and counterproductive way to pay for things that are not risks — such as annual checkups, which are known in advance to occur every year.

Your annual checkup does not cost any less because it is covered by insurance. In fact it costs more, because the person who is insured must pay premiums that cover not only the cost of the checkup itself, but also the costs of insurance company paperwork.

[jazusamo]

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Thomas Sowell

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[gattaca]

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[MrB]

Who decides what is "substandard"?

Being a disciple of Sowell's, this was the first question that popped into my head when I saw the phrase "substandard insurance".

[redpoll]

A day doesn’t go by when I wish this guy had been our first black president.

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon or click above and donate or become a monthly donor!

[subterfuge]

“Substandard” is a eupahamism for insurance that doesn't force you to pay for gender reassignment, abortion on demand, breast pumps for males and whatever nonsense the ghoul Sebilious dreams up.

[oldbrowser]

But, instead of directly helping those particular people to get insurance, the "solution" was to expand the government's power over everybody, including people who already had health insurance that they wanted to keep.

That is the point where it changes from charity to socialism.

[Billthedrill]

Insurance covering everything from baldness treatments to sex-change operations is a lot more expensive than insurance covering only major illnesses that can drain your life's savings.

And you know which type you will be paying for - not for yourself, of course, but for the mentally ill who cannot afford "gender reassignment" surgery on their own.

[jazusamo]

Bump...FRmail.

[Sherman Logan]

the person who is insured must pay premiums that cover not only the cost of the checkup itself, but also the costs of insurance company paperwork.

And the very significant costs of the additional paperwork health care providers must do just to get paid, all of which has nothing at all to do with improving people's health.

[GOPJ]

Obama uses the rhetoric of going "forward," but he is in fact going backward to an age when despots told everybody what they had better do and better not do.

Kind of scary for those of us who've read the third Act...

[TheOldLady]

Thank you for the ping, Jaz.

[clearcarbon]

"Who decides what is 'substandard?'

The people who decide are probably exempt from obamacare.