President Obama on insurance companies:
"they freely ration health care...on who can pay and who can't."
GMU Professor Don Boudreaux corrects:
"Not exactly; coverage is rationed according to who PAYS and who doesn't. Many folks - especially young adults - have the ability to pay but choose not to do so."
The meat of the argument is in the choice. It's not about CAN/CAN'T, it's about CHOICE. I'm thankful we have a real professor here to correct our President.
I referred to this last week regarding our own personal cash outlays for our health coverage (click here for post), but let me be a little more clear...
We are able to pay out the nose for our health care BECAUSE we make sacrifices in other areas of our budget.
- Would I like to live in a nicer house? YES! Someday my children will have a yard.
- Do I wish we were saving more for my children's college education? Yes!
- Would I like to travel more? Yes!
- Would I like to have knee-high riding boots like Mary Carillo? Yes!! (see this post)
- Would I like to not stress every time I do my budget? Yes. I despise the stress.
Of course, there are poverty-stricken individuals in our nation truly unable to afford health care, and you know what?? They still get it! It's called Medicaid. It's an income threshold qualifying benefit. If you're truly poor, you get health coverage.
Professor Boudreaux continues with Obama's determination to fix this rationing of a product to those who pay and those who don't. Boudreaux's example is AWESOME. He says:
"Not only insurers, but all producers who greedily refuse to supply persons who don't pay should be set aright...
"For example, the typical worker rations his labor services according to who pays and who doesn't. That must stop. Oh, and supermarkets! Every single one rations groceries according to who pays. Likewise with restaurants, clothing stores, home-builders....Indeed, my own county government has been corrupted by this greedy attitude: if I don't pay my taxes, the sheriff takes my house...Preposterous!"
You all know plenty of people who are cash-strapped, but do well enough to have cell phones and plasma TVs, the latter of which I am still denying my husband. It's about choices and to each his own.
A friend of mine recently saw a man panhandling for money on the streets of Seattle. She felt sorry for him until his iPhone rang and he had the gall to answer it. I wonder if he'd be upset if AT&T started "rationing" his cell coverage should he not pay his bill. "Preposterous!"
Source:
John Stossel commentaryGMU Professor Don Beaudroux
This is my favorite post on health care yet....because it describes exactly how I feel! I know many people who view health care as a 'want' instead of a 'need'...so yes, after all their needs are budgeted and as many 'wants' that can be afforded (cell phone, cable, internet, new car payments, vacations, etc)...yes, they cannot afford health care. But that is a legitimate choice they are making...and I don't think it makes me unsympathetic to say so. Trevor sees Medicaid patients every day. They don't pay a cent for their care. Not a copay or a dollar in coinsurance. Their physical therapy is covered 100% by our government system already in place that offers health care based on need! Health care is a choice, a privledge for those who truly deem it as need for their family.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. We all have our priorities. It drives me crazy when people say they can't afford things and refuse to admit that they are making the choice. Being in the Army, you see that a lot. Joe is an officer, and he makes fairly good money, yet we do not have cable, we don't have one piece of new furniture in our home, and we don't travel nearly as much as we'd like to. We do this because there are other things we would like to do first (like pay off all that student loan debt!). We have friends who are lower enlisted soldiers who resent us for making more money and roll their eyes at our frugality, but they have cable, they have a 46" plasma tv, a PS3, a motorcycle, etc. Obviously we have different priorities.
ReplyDeleteFor us, being in the Army, our Healthcare is covered, and I am truly grateful. However, that is a benefit that comes with the job. We see it as part of our income. If the bill passed, would we get a huge raise? We should.
I agree! this is my favorite post as well. Way to say everything that has been on my mind! It really all comes down to the choices we are making.
ReplyDelete