Jan 10
Government subsidies of health care–often enacted with claims that they “help the poor”–increase demand without increasing supply, causing prices to rise. Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and the VA system have all INCREASED the basic costs of medical care for poor people. But there are areas of medicine that are ‘elective,’ meaning that people make choices for …
Jan 05
Every government ultimately comes for all freedom, all property, and to kill all who resist. For centuries, the law has recognized physician-patient confidentiality. Doctors who snitch on their clients or who disseminate private, confidential information regarding their patients have faced professional penalties. Now, in the never-ending quest of government to strip the private sector of …
Dec 10
Every government policy that subsidizes health care increases demand without increasing supply, causing prices to rise. Thus, Medicare, Medicaid, the VA program and the ACA (“Obamacare”) have all made health care more expensive. In turn, the poor (who are sometimes mentioned as the supposed beneficiaries of such government programs) find medical care more and more …
Dec 03
It is the dream of every truster of government: universal, government-dispensed health care, made cheaper by eliminating the profit motive from the industry. Unfortunately, it never works. Every government program which subsidizes health care simply increases demand without increasing supply, causing prices to rise faster than inflation. Now, after Obamacare has come completely on line, …
Nov 22
Every government program that subsidizes heath care makes health care more expensive. Government supports subsidize demand without increasing supply, causing prices to rise. New research by the Mercatus Center (see here) shows that Obamacare’s enrollment figures fell far short of projections. By MILLIONS. Also, enrollment of “all but the near-poor is far below projections.” The …
Nov 20
According the USA TODAY (see here): The nation’s largest health insurer warned Thursday that it may pull out of the Obamacare exchanges after 2016 – forcing more than a half million people to find other coverage – after low enrollment and high usage cost the company millions of dollars. The possible move by UnitedHealth Group …
Nov 12
Just as in other heavily-regulated industries (think meatpacking), the new regulations in healthcare are causing consolidation, fewer but larger insurance companies, and much higher premium costs. Here is a summary of the situation. Dr. Mandy Cohen of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently testified that almost 700,000 Americans have lost their health coverage …
Nov 06
A 2011 University of Virginia study found that surgical Medicaid patients are 13 percent more likely to die than those without insurance. Of the 893,658 surgical operations reviewed between 2003-2007: Patients on Medicare were 45% more likely to die than those with private insurance; the uninsured were 74% more likely; and Medicaid patients 93% more …
Oct 29
“Underperforming bailout-style programs (expiring after next year) designed to artificially hold down rates, sicker-than-expected risk pools, and stagnating enrollment projections.” These are, according to columnist Guy Benson, the ways that promoters of Obamacare underestimated costs and unintended consequences of the “Affordable Care Act.” Premiums are rising an average of at least 7 percent annually (despite …
Oct 15
It is not unusual for government programs with immense budgets to “lose” large amounts of money. Government agents are known to siphon off money for use on fine dining, fancy hotels, payoffs and kickbacks and the occasional new deck or swimming pool in the back yard. But according to Mytheos Holt (see here), several BILLION …
