re: #676 lawhawk

I stated what would happen if the current HCR proposal stalls, and it was that states would continue attempting to find a solution to HCR on their own, and that it would likely end up in the same place as all the other efforts - a failure IMO because the costs spiral out of control, and the states are forced to scale back the programs or raise premiums.

So the solution is in the state programs, which you expect to fail?

isn’t going to cut costs or cost less than doing nothing - and the costs of doing nothing are already inclusive in the current state of Medicare and Medicaid plus the state and local costs that can be aggregated.

You said it won’t cost less than doing nothing. So that implies you do know the cost of doing nothing:

Could you explain what the cost of doing nothing is?

I stand by my previous proposals for a backstopping catastrophic care provision that provides coverage, increased portability, and does not penalize those individuals who opt not to buy insurance themselves but choose to assume the risk of their own health care (and yes, I know you’ll again claim that the government ultimately assumes the risk if the individual can’t pay - but the difference is that you automatically put the government in that role; I want them as the ultimate backstop, not the first and only choice).

The difference is that I can admit that those people are not really assuming the risk of their own health care. The government does, indeed, assume the risk if the individual can’t pay— as do all people who pay for insurance, in higher premiums. that’s simply true. Every day, people without insurance are treated, and their costs paid for by the taxpayers and by insurance holders. That is the status quo.

I have no problem with a plan that provides catastrophic care prevention. I approve of that highly. I approve of increased portability— something strongly supported in the current plans. However, those things alone do not begin to approach a solution to the problem.

Can you point me to the plan of anyone that you prefer to the plans currently on the table?