Health Care...man, I'm torn.

[TastyWheat]

I like the idea of expanding the use of "emergency" insurance. I also think HSAs need to be less restrictive. Everyone should be able to save, tax-free, for future medical expenses. A lot of the regulation concerning insurance and medicare should be removed as well. Many private-practice doctors are sick of the red tape and leaving their practices. Inflation isn't helping things either.

 

[kpitcher]

Certification

Have you any experience with the elderly and the fake trade rags that get mailed to them? Usually they have a price on the cover, 5.95, spouting all the miracle snake oil cures. In their pages are pictures of doctors, at first glance it looks legit. Somewhere hidden in fine print is the 'these statements are not meant to treat, are not approved, etc etc'. Just enough legalese to not run foul of the FDA. Or all those roll on headache commercials that cure everything.

Now I know the FDA is far from good, just look at the horrors of aspartame getting passed because of political ties. However the thought of no central licensing agent and the mass confusion it would cause is actually kinda scary. We'd have snake oil flooding the market worse than it is.

It's one of those 'in theory it's great, in practice it's another matter'.

On another point, if the threat of lawsuits wasn't so prevalent in the medical field price savings could be drastic. Of course changing the legal industry on top of the health care just makes it all the more challenging.

 

[dannno]

Have you any experience with the elderly and the fake trade rags that get mailed to them? Usually they have a price on the cover, 5.95, spouting all the miracle snake oil cures. In their pages are pictures of doctors, at first glance it looks legit. Somewhere hidden in fine print is the 'these statements are not meant to treat, are not approved, etc etc'. Just enough legalese to not run foul of the FDA. Or all those roll on headache commercials that cure everything.

Now I know the FDA is far from good, just look at the horrors of aspartame getting passed because of political ties. However the thought of no central licensing agent and the mass confusion it would cause is actually kinda scary. We'd have snake oil flooding the market worse than it is.

It's one of those 'in theory it's great, in practice it's another matter'.

On another point, if the threat of lawsuits wasn't so prevalent in the medical field price savings could be drastic. Of course changing the legal industry on top of the health care just makes it all the more challenging.

Let me give you a hint.... the real snake oil is in WESTERN MEDICINE!! I'm not saying it's all bad, but let's just say there are much, much better ways to deal with a lot of things than going to an AMA sponsored doctor.

I'm also not saying that all the snake oil in those magazines are good, either, but trust me, out of the confusion would rise greatness, affordable effective healthcare beyond your wildest dreams.

You don't believe me, do you? Well, health starts with the diet, and I consider the FDA solely responsible for America's diet today. They approved of transfat for decades, and it turns out it is one of the worst possible things you can put into your body. McDonalds. KFC. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. All the fastfood chains used vegetable oil (which is fine) but then they pumped it full of hydrogen and created a toxic substance that happens to taste good and is very stable under cooking conditions. Put a bucket of it in your garage. It won't go bad. Bugs won't eat it, rodents won't eat it, mold won't eat it. That should tell you something.

My point is that the reason everybody is so unhealthy is because they took your route. They feel safer with the government rubber stamping everything for them. Well the truth is that is just a false sense of security because the government blows at doing this stuff, and private industry is much, much better. Trusted brands rise to the top and become much more effective and trusted than any government agency. I'm not talking about your big corporate powers today, I don't trust them either. Those are a result of government regulating them into monopolies within their industry as well as the Fed. I'm talking about companies that become big solely due to the free market. Hardly any of those today.

Snake oil will always exist.

 

[robert4rp08]

Health care is a right. Taking money from other people to pay for your health care is not.

When people say "Health care is a right." What they are really saying is "What's yours is mine."




It's called the American Medical Association.

Except that it's not entirely private and it's more along the lines of an old fashioned guild.

Health care is a service and a responsibility-- it is not a right. No other service is a right either as it must come at the expense of someone's skills and labor. For example, do you have a right to an oil change for your car? Similar to health care, it is a service to provide care and maintenance to your property. To take the analogy further, if you neglect to take care of your vehicle, and end up having to spend thousands of dollars to repair your vehicle-- do you have a right to those expensive repairs-- especially after not caring for your property properly?

You might say that a person has a right to not be prohibited from acquiring health care-- but they certainly do not have a right to the service itself.

Similarly, you do not have a right to a gun-- you have a right to acquire one for ownership. You do not have a right to a job, education, home, etc. either. The principle is the same with health care-- it is just perturbed because of the tear jerking.

 

[Bman]

Have you any experience with the elderly and the fake trade rags that get mailed to them? Usually they have a price on the cover, 5.95, spouting all the miracle snake oil cures. In their pages are pictures of doctors, at first glance it looks legit. Somewhere hidden in fine print is the 'these statements are not meant to treat, are not approved, etc etc'. Just enough legalese to not run foul of the FDA. Or all those roll on headache commercials that cure everything.

Now I know the FDA is far from good, just look at the horrors of aspartame getting passed because of political ties. However the thought of no central licensing agent and the mass confusion it would cause is actually kinda scary. We'd have snake oil flooding the market worse than it is.

It's one of those 'in theory it's great, in practice it's another matter'.

On another point, if the threat of lawsuits wasn't so prevalent in the medical field price savings could be drastic. Of course changing the legal industry on top of the health care just makes it all the more challenging.

I can't agree. Having a granny state on anything is expensive. And unless you haven't looked at the budget lately this is certainly one topic which is totally too expensive. Now you may say it comes from lawsuits, but I'm not sure I understand why the government is paying off lawsuits. People wouldn't sue if there was no value in it.

 

[idirtify]

From the looks of my first read thread, this looks like a great forum! And active too! Wow! What great responses!

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Getting the FDA out of health care has already been mentioned and I agree. Eliminating it would probably yield the greatest improvement in quality and reduction in cost, and would hopefully eliminate another giant culprit: the prescription drug system. Not only does FDA demand that all drugs be approved through FDA, but FDA over-regulates many drugs with the pseudo-prohibition system called “for prescription only”. Like street-drug prohibition, this medical-drug over-regulation artificially raises prices. Eliminate the prescription drug system, allow anyone to manufacture/sell any drug and anyone to buy any of them over the counter, and watch drug prices drop like a rock.

IMO allowing others to buy and sell and possess whatever the hell they want is one of the greatest tests for a true libertarian.