Libertarian vs Cynical

Some interesting discussion going on at a Stossel article:

Congress Can't Repeal Economics

Obama is neither clueless nor evil. By removing a viable marketplace for private insurers, you gain more customers for the public option, which is what Obama and Pelosi wanted in the first place. Likewise, by taking free market out of medical care, you by definition change the type of people who gravitate there as employees. Free market tends to make individuals accountable. Darwinian capitalism. Government market tends to make nothing an independent decision. Medical treatment will be determined by a book and a committee of physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Not that there is anything wrong with either. It's just that overall, the quality of medical care has to deteriorate just because of the lack of education and practice in a variety of care environments. Fewer experts will result in more mistakes and fewer people practicing will result in more overlooked symptoms. But more inadequate government employees will review and revise the treatment plans until they pass the sniff test. Just like getting specialized treatment now in a PPO - you have to jump through the bureaucratic hoops. Just look at how government (e.g., public schools, the motor vehicle dept.) work now.

That's all part of the plan, too. It is medical Darwinism. Not only will fewer people survive medical care, but the attention will turn to ostracizing people who are not viewed as having an appropriately healthy lifestyle. Smoking, obesity, high triglycerides, failure to exercise, too much fat, salt and sugar, not enough fruit and vegetables, drinking caffeinated and sugary drinks will not only cost more at the retail counter, but it will cost more for your insurance and care. And you will get in the back of the line for care over and over, while someone who has a higher "health index" gets the priority. Technically, people who don't do everything perfectly cannot be penalized, but people who do can be incentivized, and what is the difference? Just that the government will be able to say they don't charge the poor sick people more for being sick. They will get free care, when the governments gets around to it.



If you think I am crazy, consider this: they are monitoring garbage with microchips to make sure you recycle. So, very easy to monitor what food you buy with RFIDs, and then penalize (tax) accordingly. Kind of like paying tax by the mile instead of tax by the gallon. (Tax by the mile is what state governments are coming up with since gas tax revenues are down due to increased mileage and reduced driving.)

Just making people wait longer before they get a diagnosis (let alone treatment) will shorten the amount of time that people are in the program, yes? True it is cheaper to treat healthy people than sick people, but once they are sick, you really want to get them out of the program as soon as possible.