Socialist Medicine

So... according to our President, we're going to give everyone health care, by sticking it to those horrible insurance companies. How stupid is that?

Here's what I want. I own a software business. I want to make my competition pay my company zillions of dollars so I can supply software to others for free. You see, they and their customers can just deal with skyrocketing costs, because people need my software for free. It's just not humane to make my customers pay for it.

"But", you say; "won't the customers just leave the skyrocketing costs and sidle up to the free software bar?" No. We'll say that they can't have the free stuff, because they are fortunate enough to already have software. And when the demand for new software gets higher and higher, we'll just up the ante, and gouge them even harder. It'll be fine. So what if Norton Antivirus now costs $250,000 with a $12,000 annual renewal fee. It's worth it to get disadvantaged people their free software.

But will your software be as good as private company software?

No. It doesn't have to be because the success of my software company is tied to the quality of my competitors products, not mine. Plus, it's free so who cares?

Why would software companies go along with this if you plan to steal from them to put them out of business?

Oh, I will set the whole program up with this statement...

We will provide free software to all, without taking away the freedom of current users to choose their existing providers, and without competing with them in the free marketplace.

There. Problem solved.

For A shining example of government-run healthcare, let's look at Cuba.

Gubmint Healthcare

Health insurance premiums are eating a big hole in my company's budget. We've changed coverage to reduce the costs, but we're getting to the point where anything more than a couple of office visits and short of hospitalization is coming out of our pockets... Not pleasant, however, ... The government goofs could try a couple of things first:

• make the state's insurance regulators to adopt a uniform list of stupid demands
• make the insurance companies offer a low cost "government minimum" package
• make it mandatory for people to have some insurance coverage
• The feds should pay retirees' private insurance premiums instead of MediCare
• The state should subsidize people's private insurance instead of MediCal (or the flavor in your state)

I hate "government mandate" ideas, especially enacted at the federal level (when a city or state forces you to do something you hate, you can always move), but cannot think of a better way to make basically healthy people "fork over the dough". MediCare is going broke (along with Social Security) and will drag the government's budget into the tank with it. Furthermore, when the VA hospitals are considered the pinnacle of effective and efficient health care providers, then, and only then, will I think that the government has any chance to run/dictate/regulate the health care industry without driving yet another part of this country into the sewer.