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Here is an interesting article on the
subject of healthcare:
<a
href="">http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1456
Trey
<span
>-----Original Message-----
From: EarlA
[mailto:earl.a@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, March
08, 2004 <span
>8:31 AM<font size=2
face=Tahoma>
To: realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: healthcare was RE:
[RT] sp500/nasdaq top
<span
>
<span
>Howard,
<span
>
<span
>Sorry, but I'm having too much fun in
"retirement" to write a book. That will have wait for another
incarnation.
<span
>
<span
>You raise a healthcare issue which has raged for many
years ... should a statistically healthy group (the young) be required to
maintain health coverage so as to homogenize the lifecycle risks and costs. The
battle lines are clear ... without compulsory coverage, the only people who
purchase coverage is the higher risk portion of the population. On a lifecycle
basis, the population tends not to purchase coverage until middle age.
There are some specious facets to this such as fact that parents, who are
financially able, will purchase coverage to cover childcare
expenses. Among developed countries, the US is one of the
few which does not have compulsory national coverage.
<span
>
<span
>There is another trend which has become
evident here in the US ... the emasculation
of benefits, especially healthcare. Many companies, most
predominantly in the retail field (led by Wal-Mart), maintain a large
cadre of workers whose hours are limited so that they are not eligible for
benefits. The highest cost benefit is health insurance. The most recent battle
was engaged in CA where the large food chains, facing a pitched battle with
Wal-Mart, set out to reduce their benefit costs. However, it is important to
note that this is not happening just in retail but in every industry as
companies seek to cut their costs to the bone. Even the retired do not escape
the knife as companies aggressively scale back existing retirement benefits and
raise premium sharing and co-pays. Given the high rate of cost healthcare cost
increases, I'm not sure they can be blamed, however this trend is exacerbating
the national healthcare coverage problem.
<span
>
<span
>I think our system, which has largely relied upon
employer-sponsored healthcare, has brought about a healthcare system in which
the consumer has too small a stake in reducing costs. When it costs little or
nothing (as in days gone by) to use the healthcare system, you will not
discriminate about the costs. I do like the idea of the new Health Savings
Accounts in which one buys a catastrophic policy and puts the
"savings" into an account to offset some of the non-catastrophic
costs and/or reap the benefits of a healthy life-style. This gives the HSA
owner the incentive to use healthcare judiciously ... not that any sane person
would invest the time to wait in a doctor's office absent a pressing need.
<span
>
<span
>However, those who consume lots of fats and
sugars and carry around an extra 20%+ in weight (a large part of the American
population) are not likely to jump all over this "opportunity". This
issue is one which probably gets to the crux of American healthcare. Go almost
anywhere else in the world e.g. Europe and you will not see the
degree of obesity seen here in the US.
<span
>
<span
>Earl
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