Free Republic

Collectivism Is Not the Cure : Health Care Market Needs Innovation, not Regulation Thomas C. Patterson, Goldwater Institute Daily Email, March 20, 2008 Have you ever tried to do cost comparisons for medical services? You do it all the time for your car, your house, food and clothes. But it’s not easy to find out what medical services cost before you buy. Of course, most of us aren’t too concerned because we figure we’re not paying the bill anyway. PATMOS Emergiclinic in Greeneville, Tenn., is different. Their charges are prominently posted in the clinic, on their Web site (patmosemergiclinic.com) and...

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2008 – In a broad-ranging news conference today, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell fielded questions on the costs of the war on terror, troops’ water safety in Iraq, the fielding schedule for mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, and a recent contract for aerial refueling tankers. The Pentagon has spent $527 billion dollars fighting the war on terror since Sept. 11, 2001, officials released today. Through December 2007, the Defense Department had paid $406.2 billion for the war in Iraq, $92.6 for operations in Afghanistan, and $27.8 billion defending the homeland, Morrell said. “I think the Pentagon has been extraordinarily...

This is a summary of an article by Ezekial J. Emanuel, M.D. titled as of above. You can find a summary of the article HERE. The author makes the following points: It is a misperception that employers and the government pay for health care. Employees are given health care in lieu of increases in gross and net wages. This is clear from economic data over the last 30 years where adjusted for inflation health care costs have gone up 300%, corporate profits have gone up 150% and employee wages have gone up 4%. Essentially, employees have received more health care...

Driving down to Austin lately has become a real trip. I-35 is usually packed for most of the 185 miles, and what used to take three or four hours now can take five or six. Flying down can take almost as long, when you figure in airline security delays, more flight delays, and the time it takes getting into and out of crowded airports. But what if it took 45 minutes to travel from the Metroplex to Austin by train or an hour to make a trip to Houston? Advocates of high-speed rail lines are floating these ideas once again...

With automakers patenting more parts to enhance dealers' service and repair revenues, the knockoff business is taking a big hit. The patenting of more run-of-the-mill auto part designs is roiling small body shops, many of which make their living by fixing cars with knockoffs of original equipment parts such as grilles, hoods, lights, mirrors, side panels and fenders. Such pieces are anywhere from 10% to 50% cheaper than the real McCoys, but increasingly, the law forbids their use. Automakers have long sought patents on certain extra-stylish ornamentation to prevent other automakers from cribbing the design for their vehicles. But the...

Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach are battling back by growing their own food. Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies. Although the 2008 planting season is still largely in the planning stages, it appears vegetable seed sales will be up significantly from year-ago figures, said Barb Melera, president of D. Landreth Seed Co., in New Freedom, Pa. "I just came back from the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta and we sold three- to four times the amount of seed packets we did the previous...

The Census Bureau informs us that when the clock strikes midnight, the U.S. population will exceed 303.1 million. That represents a one-year increase of 0.9% and a 22% increase since 1990, when our population stood at a mere 248.7 million souls. ...Between 1994 and 2005, the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. is estimated to have doubled to around 12 million. Yet according the Department of Justice, over that same period the violent crime rate in the U.S. declined by 34.2% and the property crime rate fell by 26.4%, reaching their lowest levels since 1973. Crime has fallen in cities...

In 2002, the median price of a single-family home in Los Angeles was $270,000 and the median homeowner's income was $65,000. With a $50,000 down payment, the annual cost of that house (taxes, insurance and payment on a 30-year fixed-rate conventional mortgage) would add up to about 33% of the median household's income -- just under the 35% mark that the Federal Housing Administration calls the upper limit of "affordable." By 2006, the cost of that same house doubled, to $540,000 -- pushed by unbridled speculation fueled by unparalleled access to mortgage capital. But median income rose a paltry 15%....

...Everyone believes in adequate health care; people should have it when needed. Politicians cater to these beliefs. But the intellectual and even moral laziness of this approach results in an invisible abdication of political responsibility. We are letting the unchecked rise in health spending determine national priorities. Consider: Health spending already totals more than $2 trillion annually, about 16 percent of national income (gross domestic product). By 2030, it could easily exceed 25 percent -- one dollar out of four -- projects the Congressional Budget Office. There's a massive transfer of income from young to old. Americans 65 and older...

SIERRA VISTA — Sunday’s protest at the Fort Huachuca Main Gate called for 25 off-duty Sierra Vista police officers to clock in for overtime. A total of 32 officers worked the event, of which 25 were on overtime, for the approximate seven-hour detail, city Lt. Adam Thrasher said. Officers’ time sheets aren’t due until Monday morning, so exact numbers are not yet available. The city will spend an estimated $7,000 in overtime pay as a result of the approximate 175 man-hours used during the event, Thrasher said. For events that may occur in city right of way but are not...

...Several American business leaders have come to believe that the American health-care system is not only bad for our health but also for national competitiveness. In the automotive industry, General Motors claims that it spends about $1,600 per car on health care. In Japan, according to GM, Toyota's per automobile healthcare expenditure is just $110. Health coverage is indeed becoming more expensive for businesses. Over the past eight years, the percentage of firms offering health benefits to employees has dropped significantly, to 60% from 69%. This decline, however, is almost completely accounted for by businesses with fewer than 10 employees....

There's a long history of legislation that has increased student aid but hasn't reined in tuition. After the avalanche of federal subsidies is factored in (plus colleges' own aid and the private scholarships that students win), the price that students pay out of pocket--called the net tuition--still rose 28% after inflation over the past decade at public colleges and 33% at private ones, the College Board says. As with any subsidy, Congress approving a handout is a signal to raise prices and capture that money, leaving the intended beneficiary--college students, in this case--no better off. The handouts "encourage colleges to...

When Louis Brandeis praised the 50 states as "laboratories of democracy," he didn't claim that every policy experiment would work. So we hope the eyes of America will turn to Wisconsin, and the effort by Madison Democrats to make that "progressive" state a Petri dish for government-run health care. This exercise is especially instructive, because it reveals where the "single-payer," universal coverage folks end up. Democrats who run the Wisconsin Senate have dropped the Washington pretense of incremental health-care reform and moved directly to passing a plan to insure every resident under the age of 65 in the state. And,...

The district's campus construction shortfall jumps from $1.6 billion to $2.4 billion. Officials look for more money. The projected shortfall in the new Los Angeles Unified School District's campus construction program has ballooned from $1.6 billion to at least $2.4 billion in the last six months, the result of spiraling construction costs. And Los Angeles school officials, who were already scrambling to cover the lower shortfall, have no plan in place that would entirely make up the gap. The alarm from staff members emerged Thursday during a committee meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Education. It was a familiar...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani hasn't done a lot of grocery shopping lately — at least based on his answers about the cost of milk and bread. Campaigning in Alabama on Tuesday, the former New York City mayor portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative and an aggressive fighter of terrorism who has a lot in common with the Deep South state. But when asked about more mundane matters — like the price of some basic staples — Giuliani had trouble with a reporter's question. "A gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread...

...There are other, more serious costs and not just in health care, according to “Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America’s Tort System,” a new study from the conservative Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco. The study is the most comprehensive ever done on the direct and indirect costs of allowing personal liability lawyers virtual free rein in our courts in recent decades, according to the PRI. Among the other health care costs calculated by the PRI are an estimated 3.4 million people who can’t get insurance because of excessive premiums and, worst of all, 114,000 people who “would be...

The correct title for this article is, "Trends In Emergency Medicaid Expenditures For Recent And Undocumented Immigrants." The population is comprised of "undocumented' and legal immigrants (less than 5 years) living in North Carolina for the years 2001-2004. This population can receive Medicaid reimbursement only for "emergency" services. The data is for Medicaid reimbursement and does not include those medical services provided through other sources--primarily hospital emergency rooms and other care centers who do not attempt to collect from Medicaid. About 48 thousand individuals received care under emergency Medicaid services. 99% of the population was "undocumented" and 93% were Hispanic....

WASHINGTON - The sting of rising postal costs could be eased a bit by the introduction of a "forever" stamp that would remain valid for first-class postage despite future increases. The independent Postal Regulatory Commission scheduled a Monday morning briefing to announce its ruling on the Postal Service's requests to raise first-class rates 3 cents to 42 cents and to establish the permanent stamp. If the commission agrees, the matter goes back to the board of governors of the Postal Service, which is expected to schedule any rate changes in May. The commission can also reject or modify the rate...

The Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry’s massive transportation project, hit some speed bumps Friday. A sharply-worded report from the State Auditor’s Office was released - and a member of the Republican leadership in the House filed a bill to repeal the plan, which could encompass up to 8,000 miles. Brenham Rep. Lois Kolkhorst’s bill is almost identical to one already filed by Democrat state Rep. David Leibowitz of Helotes, near San Antonio. With lawmakers from both sides of the aisle questioning the project, organizers of a March 2 are hoping thousands of Texans will make their way to the state...

A State Auditor’s Office report on the Texas Department of Transportation and the Trans-Texas Corridor set for public release today estimates a $105.6 billion price tag for the TTC-35 portion alone of the massive transportation project. The TTC-35 represents 14 percent, or 560 miles, of the Trans-Texas Corridor’s proposed 4,000 miles of roadway criss-crossing the state. A 2002 estimate by TxDOT placed the cost for the entire Trans-Texas Corridor at between $145 and $184 billion. Taken as a whole, the Trans-Texas Corridor on its completion could become “the longest network of toll roads in the world,” according to the audit....