Insurers, you go first

You did know that due to the Social Security Act and the Patriot Act your medical records can be viewed and copied by anyone who claims to be an agent of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, didn't you? Or that those same agents write their own subpoenas? (The best reference is this ACLU webpage, although most of the regulations were there in a weaker form before the Patriot Act.)

Health insurers - the American Health Insurance Plan group and Blue Cross/Blue Shield - said that they would begin covering everyone regardless of pre-existing conditions if the government will mandate the purchase of their products and subsidize Medicaid and SCHIP. And so grows the government ownership of health care.

From what I've seen of mandatory auto insurance, prices don't go down when the government forces everyone to buy a certain product. I don't believe in government mandates as a rule and haven't been favorably impressed with the way government interference in health care, with the creation of HMO's, ERISSA, and the invasion that has resulted in our current draconian Medicare rules and regulations.

Not to mention $2 Billion dollar stock option bonuses and $125 Million dollar salaries, such as those given to William McGuire by United Health Care in the past and the $13 million to $15 million salary of his successor in 2006 and 2007. (For a look at the compensation of the big companies, click on the names of companies at this page.)

I do believe that insurers abuse their ability to refuse or limit coverage and increase fees due to prior conditions. The industry should be able to evaluate the effect of removal of pre-existing conditions by looking at the history of the insured in States like Texas, which do not allow such limitations for most people covered by employers' health insurance. Let us see those numbers and facts and demonstrate your trustworthiness before we even consider using government laws to increase your customer base.

From the press release of the American Health Insurance Plan group:

Health plans today proposed guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions in conjunction with an enforceable individual coverage mandate.

Under the new proposal, health plans participating in the individual health insurance market would be required to offer coverage to all applicants as part of a universal participation plan in which all individuals were required to maintain health insurance.

Health plans also said that premium support for moderate-income individuals and broad spreading of risk was necessary to promote affordability and maintain premium stability in the individual health insurance market.

To ensure that all Americans can access coverage, health plans also reiterated their long-standing support for making eligible for Medicaid every uninsured American living in poverty and strengthening the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

In the interest of showing good will, let the sellers go first.

I'd rather see a law allowing various levels of coverage, including support for Health Savings Accounts (rather than the ridiculous limits on numbers that we currently have) and encouraging more major medical and high deductible plans.

Healthcare lottery

When you buy a lottery ticket, do you choose the cash option with its immediate payout of half the winnings or do you choose the payment of the full amount, doled out over 20 years?

I've found this question to be a good way to help other people understand the difference between conservativism and those who think that someone else can take care of them or the "totalitarian mamas" who believe that they can take better care of us than we could ourselves and for our own good. (Of course, some Conservatives tell me don't gamble, so they never buy lottery tickets.)

It's amazing how many people tell me that they always buy the "cash option." Some say they worry that their families wouldn't get anything if they die before the 20 years is up. Some tell me that they believe they can manage and invest the money to earn more than they would if they wait out the smaller payments. A few tell me that they would rather not have all the money at one time, preferring the guaranteed income over the years or fearing blowing the money.

The latter group never understands why I suggest that their health insurance should be something that they own and control, rather than something doled out by government and their employers.

A "right" is something that we each have without conditions and which we can call on society and government to enforce or punish if someone infringes that right. The right to life is actually the right not to be killed. We expect our fellow citizens to protect us through providing armies and law enforcement, a militia and by allowing self-defense. If another person infringes our right not to be killed, we expect society to punish him.

Last night, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama stated that health care is a right. I strongly disagree.

"Health" and "health care" are difficult terms to define. Instead of people and their actions, health is threatened by disease, age and injury. If I'm not well, how will society protect my health - and who or what will be held responsible as I inevitably age? If I have a "right" to health care, then I want everything possible to maximize my health. Rights can't be rationed.

What we're really talking about is health care funding. Funding certainly can be rationed. Take a look at Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veteran's Administration.

These systems work fairly well most of the time. However, they rely on limiting the costs of health care. The limitations fail when demand for cutting edge, expensive treatments or emotional arguments override them. That's why Medicare won't pay for a tetanus shot after a dirty wound, but will pay for annual physicals, screening mammograms and prostate specific antigen tests, although there's no evidence that these prolong life.

Or why Oregon Health sends notes telling patients that they won't pay for cancer treatments, but they will pay for assisted suicide.

For more on this subject, here's another opinion.