Posted on 03/31/2012 9:12:47 AM PDT by Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri
When debating health care I think the left is relentlessly pursuing government intervention until ultimately it controls all aspects, but those of us opposed to socializing it fail in the sense that we don't comprehensively define our position or instead actively rally to restore a free market. What we need is to look at the cumulative effect of the HMO Act of 73 of the government creating HMOs, EMTALA forcing hospitals to treat anyone that walks into an emergency room, massive entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid, and other programs like SCHIP on health care..there seems to be a hole here. Then you have the effects of the ambulance chasers that go far beyond legitimate claims of malpractice in pursuit of lottery style winnings making lawyers like John Edwards multi-millionaires and the fact that technology has advanced allowing people to live very well into old age but at a cost. So do we have a problem defining what a truly free health care market looks like and how it works, especially with massive distortions like Medicare? I remember a famous exchange a republican congressman had with a man that told him to keep his government hands off his Medicare and could not be convinced that it was a government. So what do we do about entitlements that no one has the will to end? I'm just looking for ideas, because I feel we need to take the issue back so that it doesn't become like education..every damn year it is the same canard to lie about a lack of money and throw billions more despite a decades long model of complete failure, but we fail to fight the government monopoly.
The Leftist “Healthcare” is a takeover of our entire infrastructure.. Reagan warned us all of this long ago..
Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine: http://youtu.be/fRdLpem-AAs
the question to ask comes from Ayn Rand: when does a NEED on one party become a CLAIM upon another?
That’s the debate we need to have, but I think that we can show government makes healthcare unaffordable and then uses this as further justification to nationalize it, but there’s inadequate research in this area in my opinion.
The ambulance, treatment, five nights in a hospital, three more nights after problems emerged, and three followup visits with a doctor cost $1,168.
$7,641 inflation adjusted for 2012.
Yes, I say government has ruined healthcare just as it has with every other institution it controls.
About 3 years ago, I got bitten by a baby copperhead. I had 2 antivenom shots and stayed 1 night in the hospital. The bill was $66,600.00.
Are you kidding me? That’s outrageous. What I’m after is the cumulative effect of goverment intervention in health care and I have found nothing that answers this in my research. Isn’t it logical that medicare and medicaid subsidized health care that ramps up demand and this led to the HMO Act while legislation like EMTALA provided an unfunded mandate for emergency care regardless of ability to pay or legal status that again drives up demand for medical care..if any freepers have any good research, please semd it to me.
Incredible!
Costs head for the sky wherever the government/rat/lawyer complex makes the rules.
Was the anti-venom the most expensive part? I have heard that there is a shortage of the serum (sp?) these days.
SF
Yes the serum was $66,000.00 & the hospital room was 600.00. One thing that cost did teach me was how the serum is produced. They inject the snake venom into either a horse or a goat, and the animal produces the antivenom serum. Also I learned that baby snake bites are worse than adult snake bites because baby snakes do not control the amount of venom they let loose. They let it all go, while adults do not release all of their venom.
From my understanding, Medicare & Medicaid have driven up the costs for paying patients because they reimburse the Dr. an amount that is way less than the actual costs and therefore it is added to paying patients bills.
Pudlo’s thoerem of economics: “in any economic system, costs will rise to absorb the amount of available money.” when more money enters the system,. costs rise accordingly. whenever the government pours money into a system costs rise (for everybody) to absorb the new influx of moolah.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.