5 Overblown Fears About Healthcare Reform

US News ^ | 03/23/2010

[Alberta's Child]

But businesses are more resourceful than that. It's true that many companies will have to absorb additional costs, which they do every year anyway when health insurance premiums go up. But well-run companies excel at solving problems.

The author is absolutely right about this. This is why so many well-run companies have been moving their operations overseas for years, dropping medical coverage for their own employees here in the U.S., and investing heavily in bribing -- uh, lobbying government officials to improve their business prospects.

[mrsmel]

(Aw heck, didn't close tags) after they've shoved this down first. The antichrist couldn't do a better job. People are stupid and some will go for this okey-doke, if they weren't, Hussein wouldn't be there.

A few of us will understand that at this point it wouldn't matter if this bill gave us free gold bars, the process itself showed the truth of what we're dealing with.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Okay, here's a question I need answered. The argument that no one will need to buy insurance because you can't be denied for preexisting conditions makes sense. But what about an accident? Say you get hit buy a car while walking down the street. You have multiple broken bones and require lots of surgeries and rehab. It takes a few days to apply and get insured. In the mean time, you have a $30,000 ER bill. Isn't that reason to stay insured?

[Buckeye McFrog]

nice to see US News still has enough staff left for someone to be able to cut-and-paste handouts from the DNC

[dfwgator]

“The devil’s greatest trick is to convince people that he doesn’t exist.”

[squarebarb]

Excellent!

[MrB]

One concept to remember -

your “labor” is a portion of your life.

When someone takes the fruits of your labor, they are taking a part of your life.

[pissant]

Who the hell is this marxist propagandist POS?

[Alberta's Child]

That's the one type of scenario the author mentioned. His point was that paying $10,000-$15,000 per year in premiums to guard against that kind of rare "sudden catastrophe" scenario may not be worth it. He was dealing with high-end clients, so he was advising them to make sure they have a pile of cash on hand (say, $50,000) up front before they embark on his "planned uninsured-insured" strategy.

It's also worth noting that a car accident isn't necessarily the best example of a "sudden catastrophe" in this case. In the example you mentioned, the auto insurance company would potentially be on the hook for all of the costs -- and possibly even more in civil damages.

[Will88]

This article is nonsense if for no other reason that no one has really had time to study the 2,000+ pages and think through all the implications the bill’s provisions would have in our complex economy. People will be finding new provisions and assessing the impact for quite a while to come.

[PMAS]

...” It’s true that many companies will have to absorb additional costs, which they do every year anyway when health insurance premiums go up. “

No they don’t absorb costs, they pass it along to the consumers — we will just pay more for everything.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Okay, I almost fell off an attic ladder the other day and sprained my elbow catching myself. I could have easily broken something in that (near) fall. If I had $50,000 laying around, all my other problems from being unemployed for six months would be moot. I doubt many average Americans have that kind of cash laying around.

[new cruelty]

What a bunch of crap. The CBOs analysis is based on the data provided by the whitehouse, which is reason enough to distrust the figures. Doctors that I have talked to, including my wife, are gravely concerned about the adverse impact this will have on their practices.

[new cruelty]

Doctors... What will they do? Become accountants?

FU us news.

[new cruelty]

But it's implausible that thousand of doctors who have dedicated years to a complex profession will simply quit.

And another thing... consider the shortage of doctors when many doctors decide to retire early or work less, and all the up and coming bright minds that WERE looking at careers as doctors decide it is not worth the effort.

[johniegrad]

what happens when someone who can not afford insurance is required by law to buy a plan?

The government subsidizes them. Then, as the number of reduced rate government subsized enrolees grow as a result of a declining job market, the insurance companies go under and VOILA!!!! single payor.

[Alberta's Child]

Just do the math, dude. At some point the cost of the insurance exceeds the

Would you pay $2,500 every year for a homeowners' policy to protect you in the event your $250,000 home burns to the ground? Probably. But you'd be a damn fool to spend $50,000 every year for the same coverage.

[Alberta's Child]

Oops -- correction here:

At some point the cost of the insurance exceeds the cost of the risk you are protecting against.

[LucyJo]

Isaiah 30:10 ...Prophesy NOT unto us right things, speak unto us SMOOTH things, prophesy DECEITS

Hosea 4:6 My people are DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

[kcvl]

Rick Newman - Chief Correspondent, USNews

http://twitter.com/rickjnewman

How Obama can earn some tea-party cred: treat govt as a troubled business and close underperforming divisions: http://bit.ly/dbTDVU
8:36 AM Feb 11th via web

Hate to say it, but class warfare is going to dominate Obama’s first term: http://bit.ly/7c2szH
4:11 PM Jan 25th via web