Health Care Summit - Day After

The health care 'summit' was a big joke, just as we all knew it would be. It was nothing more than a publicity stunt to show the country that Obama (not Reid and Pelosi) is leading the charge in so-called health care reform.

Democrats say the system is broken. I fail to see how simply forcing people to participate in the same system is going to fix it. Until politicians can have an honest discussion about the real problems in health care, the entire fiasco should be stopped.

Health Care Summit

I'm so tired of "health care reform". I wish people would call Obama's version of "reform" what it really is: Income redistribution. The bill does nothing to address skyrocketing costs head on. Will it affect costs? Yes, but not directly, and the effects are more likely to be bad, causing prices to go up due to the likely massive increase in demand.

Republicans are asking Obama to look at the causes of high medical and insurance costs and address them individually. Sounds like common sense to me if you're actually trying to fix the broken system. The problem is, they're not. They want high earners to subsidize insurance for people with low incomes. Universal health care is NOT health care reform. It is what it is. Health care coverage for all.

In a perfect world, everyone would have health insurance. I don't think anyone would say otherwise. My issue with universal health coverage is that it's dishonest to imply you're reforming the system. If it's universal health coverage fine. Do not call it health care reform. Do not say it's going to be budget neutral. Do not say it's going to bring down costs when anyone with any sense knows driving demand up causes prices to go up.

We need to go back to focusing on costs. When people look at the suggestions put forward by Republicans, they know something is wrong. People know allowing insurance companies to sell insurance across state lines will help, but they know it's going to be like putting a band aid on a gaping wound. That may be one thing that will help lower costs, but it's a minor issue in comparison to problems that are only going to get worse. We need to look at the underlying causes and address each one individually.

Let's be honest, the elderly consume so much of the supply, they have to be driving costs up. What's worse, the government limits how much it's willing to pay for different procedures. This drives up costs for privately insured. Also, how much of our health care costs go toward paying for other people that can't/won't pay? To me, it's common sense that these have to be the issues that are addressed and any other 'fixes' will be pointless. Below are a few of my suggestions.

1. Allow insurers to sell insurance across state lines.
2. Tort reform.
3. Better credits/write offs for medical schooling. Right now tuition can be written off, but usually when a person is in school, the deduction is minimal due to a lack of earnings. Let the student defer the deduction to a date when it would maximize savings and when they pay back their student loans give them a better deduction.
4. Increase limits on medicare reimbursements.
5. Decrease the number of people on medicare. Honestly, is there anything else we can do? This is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that everyone wants to pretend isn't there. How does the math work where 1 working person pays for 1 retiree's social security and medicare benefits?

The USA is headed for a Soviet-style implosion unless we go back to limited government. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country?

IRS Threats

'Dramatic Increase' in Threats Against IRS

Many people take a jaundiced view of the IRS. The problem I have with them, personally is the excessive penalties they charge for various infractions. How many times have you heard of people owing $300 but after penalties and interest it's somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000? This is just an example, of course, but the chances are you know someone who has faced immense fines from the IRS or some other taxing authority.

I look at the IRS as a business partner. Like any other partner, I have to pay them to conduct business with them. Where they differ, is when you're late, or if your invoices aren't filled out perfectly, they hit you with penalties that make credit card fees look like a joke, in comparison. Unlike other companies you have dealings with, you can't take your business elsewhere, and this allows the IRS to seemingly do whatever it wants. Therein lies the problem. In reality, the IRS is just another business and we're its customers. Unfortunetely for us, they don't see it this way.

Obama's Last Ditch Health Care Reform

"WASHINGTON – Making a last-ditch effort to save his health care overhaul, President Barack Obama on Monday put forward a nearly $1 trillion, 10-year compromise that would allow the government to deny or roll back egregious insurance premium increases that infuriate consumers."

I think it's safe to say we need to slow down on all this health care reform. Most people seem to think we should allow health insurers to do business across state lines so why not just start with that?

I think we also need to identify the causes of increased health care costs and address those individually, like changing demographics. I know as a businessman, I have to make a profit. If I'm losing money in one area, I have to make it up in another. If insurers lose money on the elderly, obviously they have to recoup their losses from healthier segments of the population. With rising costs for more advanced therapies how do insurers cope with a medicare system that may not pay hospitals enough to cover costs much less turn a profit?

I'm no expert on health care, but I've heard many who are experts state that private payers are being forced to subsidize medicare patients. If this is the case, maybe we should start with reforming medicare first instead of the entire health care system.