There’s an old saying “you can’t get blood out of a turnip.” Our president obviously doesn’t adhere to this saying. Obama claims requiring everyone to have health insurance is not a tax increase; rather it is just an attempt to get folks without health insurance to pay their fair share of the costs they pass on to the present system — a fine, a fee, not a tax.
Forty-seven million uninsured ought to be up in arms. I think it is safe to say there is a large contingent of uninsured who are young and relatively healthy; their burden on health care costs is relatively minor compared to his proposed $3,500 “fee” or “fine.” It’s the catastrophic that run up the costs.
The State of Massachusetts has tried this approach with the state supplementing front-end costs; this idea dates back to Mitt Romney’s days as governor. It was an interesting experiment in a state that has been on the edge of bankruptcy since the Dukakis days. Massachusetts has apparently found it difficult to enforce as a sizable number of residents are reported to still not have health insurance and, as you might expect, the costs continue to rise by some estimates faster than the national average.
Income per capita in Massachusetts is well above the national average; overlay this kind of forced placed insurance across states with large numbers of low wage earners, high non-employed or many cash-only/barter workers is inviting a confrontation difficult to control or enforce.
To compare a requirement for health insurance to requiring liability insurance on autos is an apple vs. orange comparison, and some are now questioning if it really isn’t unconstitutional.
Initially you might jump to the conclusion that only those who do not currently pay for their health care or carry insurance would be penalized (taxed). No, this is not correct.
Who would pay for health insurance costs for lower income citizens or senior citizens? How many employers who pay a portion or all of health insurance costs for their employees would like to drop their health plans in favor of the government picking up the tab? Who is going to pay for the family health needs? Many employers with large numbers of employees have self-insured plans, an attempt to hold down costs; although the employee usually pays an assessed amount for the family coverage plus a deductible when used. An employer often picks up all the administration costs and a portion of “extreme care” costs for families under their group administered plans.
With the government’s involvement, we the taxpayers would front for the incentives to the uninsured to pay for minimal insurance coverage for an estimated 25 million to 30 million of the so-designated 47 million currently uninsured; plus many others who already pay for their insurance; this would not begin to touch the costs for the catastrophic.
The government would need a massive administrative tracking and enforcement agency. What would we do, toss families without insurance in jail and deny them emergency care? Of course not! If a family felt they couldn’t afford the insurance before, how are they suddenly going to pay a fine plus insurance costs?
I heard that the president claims almost half of the costs for coverage for all would come from Medicare; a government program that is already projected to go broke within the decade without more taxes.
Are we being set up? Is there an attempt to divide? Is it really that difficult to understand? Are we so embedded into politics that we’re not using the old noggin? Why would anyone support packages that are being tossed about? There are too many ideas on the table at one time and too much cost when we already have a huge shortfall in the treasury.
Correct the abuse areas first! That in itself might surprise everyone. This won’t happen, though, because too many of those in power are there with the support of current abusers to the system.
Why is it so difficult? Spin it however you want, there is no free healthy lunch or just a free lunch.
It gets down to how much do you want or how much can you afford? I really had hopes the abuses would be attacked first, then we would have a better handle on what the real costs might be. In the meantime, Barbara and I will continue paying $8,000 each year in health insurance premiums plus another $4,000 for long-term care insurance; yes, we’re old and under Medicare.
Konrad Heid lives in Joplin.
Columns
October 3, 2009
Konrad Heid, guest columnist: Sorry, there’s still no free lunch
- Columns
-
-
Irrigation system upgrade begins at Eagle Creek
Will Clark will be putting in a lot of hours over the next month or so while keeping an eye over a major upgrade of the irrigation system at Eagle Creek Golf Course.
-
Grizzled veterans may be best at telling tall tales
I saw Jim Barr and Larry Eggers this weekend at another swap meet.
Barr will be at our swap meet on March 17 at the Brighton Assembly of God gymnasium at Brighton Mo. Jim Barr and I have similar backgrounds. We both grew up on the Big Piney River, both of us spent most of our boyhood years fishing from wooden johnboats, and we both were doing some guiding on the river when we were just kids. -
Federal stimulus money allows Cherokee County to buy foreclosed houses
COLUMBUS, Kan. — A grant through the federal stimulus program will allow the Cherokee County Commission to buy three foreclosed houses from a county bank.
Nancy Lamb, deputy emergency management director for the county, provided information Monday about that grant and other grants on which she has been working. - Guest column, Allen Shirley: Copy a winning example Last October, I published a column in The Joplin Globe documenting three failed attempts involving the states of Maine, Massachusetts and Tennessee and their efforts to implement “Obamacare” in their states.
-
Anson burlingame, guest columnist: Living within our means
“Mainly, we are going to have to live within our means and be very careful.”
That is the most resounding sound bite I have heard from a politician in a long time. If only that sentiment can grow and resonate, politically, to turn the tide of incessant and extraordinarily dangerous growth beyond our means in government. - Jim Stone, guest columnist: Paranoia shouldn’t impede freedom The afternoon of Dec. 30 brought news that eight American CIA agents and four Canadian soldiers at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan had been killed by a suicide bomber.
- Dan Ray, guest columnist: Bills can still be terminated We still have an opportunity to terminate the health care bills that have been passed in the Senate and the House.
-
Dave Woods: Global warming fires up debate
on Adams doesn’t believe in global warming.
I have to say, when it’s 3 degrees below zero outside in Joplin and we’re headed for our third week without a thaw, global warming theory is a tough concept to wrap my head around. -
Jack Kaminsky, guest columnist: Remembering a ‘classic’
Last week Editor Carol Stark asked me to write something about my dad and the Kaminsky Classic, the annual Joplin High School basketball tournament which ended on Saturday.
Even as I started writing, I began crying, and have had tears in my eyes all day. - Carol Stark: We all need someone’s hand to hold I was always a nervous little kid and while others my age went through life without a care, I held back, imagining that the worst was about to happen.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Irrigation system upgrade begins at Eagle Creek
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
Man Who Disrupted Flight Ranted About CIA
Feds: 7-Eleven Stores Exploited Immigrants
Fla. Teen Catches Ride With Whale Shark
G8 Leaders Huddle on Syria
Raw: Obama, Putin Meet at G8
Iran's Rowhani Urges 'Path of Moderation'
Daughter: Mandela Doing 'Very Well'
Investigators Probe Origin of Colo. Wildfire
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
'Game of Thrones' Boosts N. Ireland
Raw: Prince Philip Leaves Hospital After Surgery
Zimmerman Jury Selection Turns to Media Exposure
Raw: FBI Meets Plane After Poison Threat
Family Tweets Say Kim Kardashian Gives Birth
US, EU Leaders Announce Free Trade Talks
