Free Market Options to ObamaCare Already Exist

The New American ^ | 26 December 2013 | Bob Adelmann

[VitacoreVision]

The already-existing free market in health care services awaits the pending collapse of ObamaCare, ready to provide them at lower costs without the mandates.

Free Market Options to ObamaCare Already Exist

The New American
26 December 2013

More than a year ago, Dr. Barbara Bellar, a medical doctor with a JD degree, was running for office as an Illinois state senator, and provided a sound byte that continues to reverberate across the Internet, having been viewed as of this writing some 3,675,000 times. The clip lasts less than two minutes, including laughter and applause from her audience, to whom she said:

So let me get this straight. This is a long sentence:

We are going to be gifted with a healthcare plan that we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't, which reportedly covers 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman doesn't understand it, passed by Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and financed by a country that is broke.

And then she asked, "So what the blank could possibly go wrong?"

Little did she know at the time just how much would go wrong: the chaotic rollout, the website's disasters, the millions of policy cancellations, the administration’s backpedaling, the increasing number of Democrats who voted for it now distancing themselves from the catastrophe, the dropping poll numbers, and on and on.

And that doesn't include the new ObamaCare taxes and fees, direct and indirect, that are coming on January 1, 2014.

Kaiser Health News provided just one single example: Starting in January, a customer with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is going to see his monthly premium jump from $322.26 to $345.40, an increase of $23.14 a month. This includes the two-percent federal levy on every health insurance policy along with the $2 fee per policy that goes to a medical research fund. This includes the fee every insurance company must pay just to sell its plans on the exchanges.

But it doesn't cover the indirect charges that will eventually show up later, such as the 2.3-percent medical device tax, and higher income taxes as the threshold for deducting out-of-pocket medical costs will jump from 7.5 percent of annual incomes to 10 percent. And then there’s the added 0.9-percent tax to be levied on those earning more than $200,000 individually or families with more than $250,000 in income. Plus there’ll be the 3.8-percent tax on unearned income, such as dividends, rental income, and capital gains.

After taking all of this into account, the Congressional Budget Office reported that there will still be 30 million people uninsured in 2016 and thereafter. It’s no wonder that poll numbers are dropping.

On December 23 a CNN/ORC poll showed that support for ObamaCare dropped five full percentage points in just the last month, with only 16 percent estimating that their families will be better off after the law takes effect. Sixty-three percent of those polled think their medical care costs will rise thanks to ObamaCare. A week before Christmas a Fox News poll showed that a majority say they wish that the law had never been passed and would vote to repeal it if they could. Even the number of those who think the law will survive is shrinking. Forty percent of those polled think the law will either be repealed or defunded — up 13 points since October.

And when the presently uninsured — those ObamaCare is targeting — were asked in a New York Times/CBS News poll, a majority said they disapprove of the law itself and an astonishing 77 percent responded that they don’t like the federal government’s demand that they must purchase health insurance for themselves. And when asked about whether they would purchase the mandated insurance or pay the fine instead, 35 percent said they would just pay the fine.

Even liberal economist John Cochrane, professor of finance at the University of Chicago, thinks ObamaCare is going to crater, leaving millions without insurance or other options. He believes the worst is yet to come, with the new taxes and enrollments falling far below estimates. He also predicts that “the individual mandate is likely to unravel when we see how sick the people are who signed up.”

Cochrane makes the case that the free market, if it were allowed to, would provide all the health care that people want or need, at prices they can afford, without government pressure or mandates:

There is an alternative. A much freer market in health care and health insurance can work, can deliver high quality, technically innovative care at much lower cost....

Health insurance should be individual, portable across jobs, states and providers ... [policies] should protect wealth against large, unforeseen, necessary expenses, rather than be a wildly inefficient payment plan for routine expenses.

The professor really ought to get out more. At the very least he should read Sean Parnell’s new book, The Self-Pay Patient: Affordable Healthcare Choices in the Age of ObamaCare in which Parnell reviews numerous options for those wanting coverage but not wanting ObamaCare. Some of those options include joining health care cost-sharing ministries, such as Samaritan Ministries or Liberty Healthshare, which operate outside of ObamaCare and cost about half of those that are being offered on the exchanges, according to Parnell.

In addition, there are short term health insurance policies that aren't regulated under ObamaCare as well as alternative policies that pay cash in the event of certain events happening: cancer, accidents, or other specific events.

There are doctors who accept cash only, there are tele-medicine services, pre-packaged plans for medical services, and even medical bill negotiation services to keep costs down. Parnell explains about how retail health care clinics operate, noting on his website that they are staffed primarily by nurse practitioners, who are able to diagnose, ,and prescribe for such relatively minor conditions such as strep throat, pink-eye, ear infections, and the like, as well as monitoring chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma.

At present there are nearly 1,300 such clinics operating across the land, often inside Walgreen’s or Walmart stores. Parnell quotes a recent study about such clinics:

[They are] commonly located inside pharmacies, supermarkets or “big box” retailers … [and] usually offer extended hours on evenings and weekends … charge relatively low prices for services, and display prices prominently so consumers are aware of the costs before receiving care.

What Parnell is describing is the free market’s response to the need for healthcare on an affordable, convenient basis just like that dreamed of by Professor Cochrane.

If ObamaCare does either crater, get defunded, or get repealed, millions will discover to their delight that the free market already has alternatives in place, costing less, providing more, and all without government demands, mandates and interference.

[GeronL]

bump

It will not be too long before all of those options become illegal with this gang in charge

[sagar]

Flood the market with doctors, just like engineers have flooded the market. That should take care of the prices really soon as doctors will have to compete for the services they provide. And remove all subsidies that artificially mask true cost... I am sure doctors would be seeing patients for $12 an hour.

Also get rid of barriers on who can prescribe medicines. You do not see that much barrier on computer programmers whose code can affect millions, or that much barrier on engineers whose design can impact millions of vehicles.

Consumers are paying artificially high prices for artificially inflated prices of doctors, including their artificially inflated medical degree costs.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Eight Ways to Opt Out of Obamacare
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3105355/posts

[Whenifhow]

Check out
http://www.cchfreedom.org/

Obamacare Exchange Opt-Out
http://www.cchfreedom.org/form.php/29#.Urzw6-J0n-K

Twelve Actions to Stop Obamacare
http://www.cchfreedom.org/cchf.php/841#.UrzpoeJ0n-I
Along the right menu are special reports (these are a few - all pdf files)

[2ndDivisionVet]

There are THOUSANDS of well-trained doctors in Asia who would jump at the chance to come here, many of whom already speak English.

[truth_seeker]

Bmk

[2ndDivisionVet]

VA, Affordable Care Act and You

What is the Affordable Care Act?

The Affordable Care Act, also known as the health care law, was created to expand access to coverage, control health care costs and improve health care quality and care coordination. The health care law does not change VA health benefits or Veterans’ out-of-pocket costs.

Three things you should know:
1 VA wants all Veterans to receive health care that improves their health and well-being.
2 If you are enrolled in VA health care, you don’t need to take additional steps to meet the health care law coverage standards. The health care law does not change VA health benefits or Veterans’ out-of-pocket costs.
3 If you are not enrolled in VA health care, you can apply at any time.

Veterans Enrolled in VA Health Care

The good news is that Veterans enrolled in VA health care programs have health coverage that meets the new health care law’s standard. You do not have to take any additional steps to have health coverage. Read more if enrolled…

Veterans Not Enrolled in VA Health Care

Veterans not currently enrolled in VA health care program can apply for enrollment at any time. Read more about enrolling…

Family Members

VA offers health care benefits for certain family members of Veterans through programs such as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) and the Spina Bifida program. Read more about VA family programs…

Your family members who are not enrolled in a VA health care program should use the Marketplace to get coverage.

Additional Health Care Law Information

We understand you may have questions about the health care law and how it might affect you and your family. We compiled basic information about the health care law to help you make informed decisions about your health care. Let us know if you have questions regarding the health care law and your VA health care at 1-877-222-VETS (8387). After all, ensuring you receive quality health care is not just our obligation, it’s also our privilege.

http://www.va.gov/health/aca/

[Theoria]

Sure. But flooding the market with Docs will not fix the problems.

The Health care problems are legion.

Government has simply destroyed a market approach to it for sometime.

The sooner the system is destroyed; the sooner we could/can really fix it. Unfortunately the 'progressives' believe the same thing.

[Shannon]

Remember a couple weeks ago when O stood up and said you can keep you existing plan for one more year? It was up to the states if they were going to allow this or now. Some states said no, others went for it. My state went for it. But there was one MAJOR thing O neglected to mention.

The new O'Care taxes and fees still apply! So even on plans that are extended for another year, the O'Care taxes & fees are added in. That's part of what's hiking the premiums.

Today, I canceled my renewal. It was just going to be too expensive. Couldn't cancel it on-line. I had to call them up. She actually asked if I wanted to go for a subsidy. I told her no, that I had no desire to be on the public dole nor did I feel like paying for anyone else's health insurance and the new premium left me with only one option: cancel the whole thing.

[Greysard]

I am sure doctors would be seeing patients for $12 an hour.

They can do that. Unfortunately, the doctor will be seeing you in a cardboard box in a back alley, because rent in a professional / medical building costs money. If the doctor chooses to rent, he'd be mopping the floor while listening to you because the $12/hr does not buy a janitor. He will not be using thin, sterile gloves and clean scrubs because all that takes money to buy and maintain; crude plastic gloves from Costco, intended for making a sandwich, will do. The doctor will be also on the phone as he is sticking a needle into you because the $12/hr does not buy a receptionist.

All that is possible. In fact, it was done this way, and it is done this way today. Where, you might ask? In every 3^rd world country, like Zimbabwe. There they drill your teeth without novocaine (that also costs money,) and then they place the cheapest filling that falls out in a year. The doctor may not even know how to do it right - the $12/hr does not pay for much education either.

The US healthcare costs money; but it is not overpriced if you pay the doctors directly. You get exactly what you pay for. Sometimes I am even surprised how little they charge, considering their obvious expenses. The equipment alone in a small dental office costs a million dollars. Your money buys you very good care (at least today.)

There is one catch with insurances, though. Direct cash payment to the provider is 50% to 75% cheaper than what the provider has to charge the insurance. In the end it is you who pays all the overhead - and there is a lot of that.

[sagar]

Well boo freakin hoo... none of those expenses justify hundreds of dollars for a 6 minute doctor session. Keep thinking those Chinese made sterile gloves cost anything more than few cents, or renting those drills for 15 minutes cost more than a few bucks. When customers are held hostage, sick customers, basic economic theory tells that it becomes criminally inelastic.

Those doctors have to pay for their completely outrageous education debt... let it burst by paying the true free market price... no more than $12.

[yadent]

Well, not quite a million dollars. A dentist can equip a 3-chair office with all the updated chairs, hand-piece units, lights, digital radiograph units, supplies, computers, lab equipment and so on for a ‘measly’ sum of around $250,000-$500,000 depending on perceived name brand ‘quality’. When I was practicing, the average dental office overhead was just north of 70% and I don’t believe that has changed much today. I felt like a fricking economic/management genius 30 years ago with an overhead of 48%-54%. With the cost of dental school, not to mention carried debt from undergraduate programs, it is extremely difficult for new grads to start or buy a practice. Most have to work like dogs for a few years to pay down that debt in order to qualify for loans for that desired practice. Only to go back into massive debt for that desired practice hoping their limited business know-how carries them to ‘glory land’..... The only Docs one would see for $12/hr are the ones with diplomas from ‘Backwater’ India, China, or Africa. Hell, even a nurse wouldn’t give you the time of day for less than $20/hr and it would be a desperate RN at that price.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Not to mention all the prime earning years taken out of your life while getting that education. 11 years after HS to become a FP, significantly more years for some other medical types. Years of significant negative income while those trailing them in HS make decent positive incomes.

Now not saying costs can't be reduced. Government had produced a lot of overhead that could be removed with minimal effect on quality! Regulations that jack up the price of their education. Regulations that force doctors to spend time and money on things unnecessary for your care. Regulations that increase the cost of developing and manufacturing their equipment and your medications. Regulations that increase the cost of your insurance for coverage you don't need or want. High taxes to support big government that leave doctor and patient both with less to spend. Chop the real waste, the government and its cronies. At least with traditional american health care you receive clear value for what you spent.

[9422WMR]

“There are THOUSANDS of well-trained doctors in Asia who would jump at the chance to come here, many of whom already speak English.”

And when you tell them you are paying cash, they say,
“You pay cash. Me so happy, me love you long time. Me so happy!
Best care ever, at $12 per hour. What could possibly go wrong?

[RoadGumby]

You sound like you have it all figured out about what is fair. Just like those calling for a $15 living wage from McDonalds.

So since you have it figured out out, show us how it is done. Open Dr office for getting eralbfamily practice, hire a couple doctors, cash only with a visit fee of $12.

Waiting eagerly for your success story.

[sagar]

Sure. Remove the restriction on the supply of doctors by getting rid of anti free market legislations from pressure groups and protectionists... my clinic will have a dozen docs eager to serve their patients for $12.

The same free market effect has made IT and engineering services so much affordable. But why is medical industry a sacred cow?

[RoadGumby]

Still waiting. Just ignore the regs and show how it is done.