KEmperor on Health

[KEmperor]

Health care is emerging as a critical political issue. Costs are rising, people are worrying about losing medical benefits, Democrats are pushing for drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries and universal care for everyone else, and Republicans are scrambling to offer their own "reform" packages.

Regions are attempting to impose price controls on pharmaceuticals. Ambitious attorneys general and left-wing interest groups have joined to target drug makers for a host of alleged offenses.

Fixing the health-care system seems more difficult than ever.
The focus of much criticism has been on health maintenance organizations, which are designed to limit care. While they are an important option in a competitive medical industry, government and businesses are increasingly pushing reluctant patients into HMOs.

Doing so is supposed to save money. Yet HMO premiums will rise 22 percent this year.

By allowing patients to self-medicate, OTC(Over the Counter) increases consumer choice and reduces costs. However, most insurers do not cover OTC medications. So in the near term, at least, only insurers save money – indeed, patients actually may have to spend more money for the same medicine.

Insurers, and especially HMOs, also make it hard for patients to receive competing prescription drugs. Some insurers simply drop coverage. The problem with HMOs is not HMOs per se, but the environment in which they operate. Government policy inadvertently discourages provision of quality health care, as exemplified by the artificial emphasis on HMOs.

Because the federal government doesn't tax employer-provided health insurance, businesses provide insurance, which means they choose providers and plans. Most companies, understandably, are more interested in constraining health care costs than expanding coverage. Thus their ever-stronger push, mirrored by government policy, to get patients into managed care.

The system makes no sense. Employers don't provide auto or homeowner's insurance.

Similarly, people need to be able to tailor health insurance to their own circumstances, and thus choose the right balance between cost savings and coverage limitations. One solution is placing medical savings accounts on a level playing field with traditional insurance, thereby returning health-care decisions to employees.

There are only two reform paths for today's broken system. The first is to fully nationalize the system, which would sacrifice coverage and quality to save money. The alternative is to reintroduce consumer choice and industry competition to medicine.

Congressional Democrats and Democratic presidential candidates want to take the first course. For the Atlasian people's sake, the KEmperor administration must travel the second.

[KEmperor]

KEmperor on health?  I hope his is very poor so he drops dead before the election.

Get out troll.

LOL, Tweed's become a troll now?

You better watch out Colin, he created Fantasy Politics, he could have you killed!

[KEmperor]

actually, I reckon tweed might actually be a troll.

Clean yourself up a bit tweed. You've turned into a bit of a bum.

You're running as VP with John.  How the mighty have fallen.  Think about that for a second.

[KEmperor]

actually, I reckon tweed might actually be a troll.

Clean yourself up a bit tweed. You've turned into a bit of a bum.

You're running as VP with John.  How the mighty have fallen.  Think about that for a second.

You quoted the wrong guy smartass

I was quoting him to support his statement.  He said you have turned into a bit of a bum, and I complimented that with the John statement.  Must have went over your head.