...Economic Wednesdays {Its friday}

Part 2

Let us carry on from Wednesday...

The issues I have with Obama's plan.

1. The public option is dumb. {Cool info on insurance}.

2. Universal health care isn't the best solution. But I have one! {oh boy}.

3. Its too government centered.

That's what we will address today...and more! {no that's probably it}.

1. The public option is dumb. We don't need another insurance company. We don't need a government run insurance company. We don't need another poorly run government business. A public option is the worst. First of all insurance is an odd mans game {like Pat}. More competition doesn't make lower premiums, it actually works the opposite way. More competition in the insurance industry actually drives up hospital prices and insurance prices.....

{say what!}. Stay with me.

Insurance companies want to pay hospitals less money and keep more. Hospitals want insurance companies to pay more and keep less. {easy}. So how do insurance companies keep prices down? Well, by saying they wont pay that high of prices. They tell the hospitals they will make their holders go to another hospital if they raise prices. But...insurance companies can only do this if they have enough holders to scare the hospitals. So they need to have what is called "Market Power", or an ability to affect the market. If there are a bunch of insurance companies about, like a new government run one, then the insurance companies wont have any market power and the hospitals will be able to charge whatever they want. The insurance companies will have to make up for this rise in prices and they will make their insurance premiums higher. So the public option is dumb. Theres needs to be more focus on hospital practices.

2. Here is where I say my plan for our health care debacle...

Regulate hospital prices. Get medicine back to the point where it runs like a normal market. How? Making people pay for their own health care. That's right. People will know, understand, and appreciate the cost of health care. We can effectively do this through health care programs where you put money into a pool {Employer run, maybe even a public run plan..whoa..}. You can then take money from this pool if you are sick and need health care. But you will know how much you are spending because if you can stay under how much you put in {or a certain amound, have not done the math yet}, you actually get a percentage {or all of it, but that's not really feasible} back. You get paid to stay healthy. Instead of not paying when you get sick. {Hey it could work}.

3. This whole thing is too government centered. Nuff said.

PEACE!

Pat