ObamaCare: higher premiums, more Canadian-style rationing
From Reason.tv: Now that they’ve passed ObamaCare, can we see what’s in it? Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and author of The Truth About ObamaCare sits down with Ted Balaker to discuss what’s really on the way courtesy of the recent health care overhaul: higher costs, decreased access to care, […]
Sebelius to insurers: shut up or government shuts you out
The AP reports: President Barack Obama’s top health official on Thursday warned the insurance industry that the administration won’t tolerate blaming premium hikes on the new health overhaul law [HR 3590]. “There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a […]
EMTALA’s perverse incentives
“911Doc” at DocsOntheWeb describes the harms of EMTALA: If you are unfamiliar with EMTALA or our take on it you can read about it here, but to be brief, EMTALA is an unfunded federal mandate passed in 1986, which, de facto, has made it a crime to tell anyone ‘no’ in the ER. Because of […]
Advice to Ken Buck & other candidates: aim to repeal ObamaCare, not just revise
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Ken Buck has said that ObamaCare (HR 3590) is wrong. In Human Events, Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute makes the case that “lawmakers need to scrap the measure in its entirety” and that “incremental revisions just won’t do.” Some excerpts: Incremental revisions just won’t do. This 2,400-page law […]
Prepare for countless government health care bureaucracies
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “we have to pass the bill [HR 3590] so you can find out what is in it.” Apparently passing the bill is not enough. We still don’t know what’s in it. As Politico reports:
Don’t bother trying to count up the number of agencies, boards and commissions created under the new […]
What abortion costs can tell us about medical care costs
Note: This post is not about the proper legal status of abortion or whether it is moral. It’s about medical care costs and how patients pay for it. Readers can appreciate the content of this post regardless of their position on legal abortion.
Politicians like to talk about how to keep medical care costs in check, […]
ObamaCare’s broken promises
Michael Tanner reviews a few of Barack Obama’s promises about the health control legislation (HR 3590) in a New York Post article:
“The bill doesn’t come close to giving “everybody” access to coverage.”
“Even further from reality is the president’s continued insistence that the new law is ‘reducing costs.’”
“Anyone who thinks that their insurance premiums will be […]
It’s Not Health Care ‘Reform’; It’s Exploitation
Pajamas Media: Scratch a health care “reformer” and you’re likely to find a health care exploiter. To stop health care exploitation we must address the root issue: the nature of rights and the purpose of government.
Medicare head Donald Berwick: rationing for thee, not for me
David Catron points out more ruling class elitism from Medicare & Medicaid head Donald Berwick:
Berwick praised the heavy-handed rationing methods of Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and said, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care; the decision is whether we will ration with our […]
FDA on your DNA: “You can’t handle the truth!”
From Paul Hsieh:
Recent advances in biotechnology have allowed private companies to offer affordable genetic testing directly to consumers, to help them determine their risks of developing problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and various forms of cancer. In response, the U.S. government has told these companies that their tests must be […]
Ten Small-Scale Reforms For Pre-existing (Chronic) Conditions
Instead of more political meddling in insurance markets like guaranteed issue and community rating, the following free-market-oriented reforms would help alleviate the problems with pre-existing conditions. From John Goodman at the Health Affairs Blog:
Encourage Portable Insurance.
Allow Special Health Savings Accounts for the Chronically Ill.
Allow Special Needs Health Insurance.
Allow Health Status Insurance.
Allow Self-Insurance for Changes […]
The AMA & biased legislation vs. health care mutual aid societies
Mary Ruwart nicely summarizes how the American Medical Association and legislation biased toward insurance companies crowded out health care mutual aid societies. Today their equivalents are health care cooperatives. The following is from The Liberator Online, June 24, 2010:
QUESTION: I think part of the problem with today’s health care system is the over-reliance on […]
