Writes Kay B. Day:
The top strategist for the left was talking to Bill O’Reilly and the talk show host asked about being able to purchase insurance across state lines. In his speech Obama cited an obstacle to reform—“In 34 states 75 percent of the insurance market is controlled by 4 or 5 companies.”
When O’Reilly mentioned this, Axelrod suggested—I’m paraphrasing—deregulation was a matter for the states.
This is kind of sad, thou there is much the Federal government can do in terms of getting rid of their existing federal regulation and abolishing Medicaid and Medicare which themselves cause price rises, in that they are not selective in terms of price.
Getting rid of federal insurance and federal tax intensive to get insurance (3rd party payer) is essential to rebuilding the health-care market price competition.
We started getting into the health-care price rises problem in the 1960′s when we started doing theses things, we will not be getting out of that problem until we stop doing those things which remove price selection from the market, by virtue of separating the consumer from the payer.
All Government wants to do is itself become the consumer in addition to the payer and simply make us the citizens the subjects of it’s choices.
That can stop the price explosion temporally (until internal government waist and corruption bring about either anther price explosion or a quality collapse.)
But it does so at the gravest of cost in terms of the lost of our liberty (individual ability to choose what we pay for and get).
It should be evident to all that to allow government to completely take over health-care is a foolish move in which we can only lose over the long run.