The Health Care Scare

Pharmaceutical Incentives, Tort reform and Some Sanity

Yes I am sick over this – we just can’t afford it. In fact, many insured will actually end up paying more into another form of welfare. It appears though that Congress is holding up the Bill and I suspect everyone there is trying to cut back room deals and get their snout into the trough. We all know in order to get the votes needed to pass legislation deals for money are being extracted. So not only can we not afford this – politicians are looking to extract ridiculous sums of money for their communities as they have done with the stimulus and so many other Bills. Our political machine is so screwed up it even allows this to happen so these people can favor their communities to re elected.

Back to Health Care Legislation. The majority of the cost of care in America is liability insurance. Someone cuts their finger in an office and they sue for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hey even if McDonalds serves coffee and it spills in the lap (yeh right – that person spilled and we all know it) of the person they can sue. So is it Health Care reform or is it tort reform that is necessary. I do think both but establishing another broke system like social security, Medicare and Medicaid is not the answer.

How about this. The drug companies operating in the US get a slight tax break and a donation tax credit to offer large supplies of drugs to the marketplace for these entitlement programs. That is a huge chunk of expense for those that need it most. Now doesn’t that make a huge amount of sense. Reducing liability insurance for docs allowing them to build their practices and incent them to offer more care would be a great backroom deal to cut. Incent docs and hospitals and it will be another reduction in the cost of care.

My wife had a kidney stone while we were Florida. She had to call 911 and I was in NYC doing a deal. I rushed back. The hospital in Clear Water Florida treated her in an appalling fashion – the worst health care experience we have ever had. Then our insurance had a whopping bill for almost $10k. For 4 hours of care and some tests it cost $10k. What is wrong? That is clearing insane. And also given socialized medicine you better expect a lot of the same - inferior levels of care and the staff just don’t care. If you want subpar care then another welfare system will give it to you.

Election promises – to get elected – then following through on impossible programs and massive pandering to us through television, the web, town hall meetings is horrifying. Imagine running for office and making all these promises when in fact you don’t even know what the heck the county’s finances or system is doing. Somebody owes somebody for certain and a $600 million dollar campaign owes a lot of people – count the lawyer’s lobby into that.

If I were President – and I would never run by the way as most great people wouldn’t – I would stand up there and the first words out of my mount would be “You know what I am going to promise you” NOTHING! How could I if I don’t know what the heck I am up against. And with a $2 trillion deficit and spiraling debt how could I ever run a business where I am bankrupt and then offering more healthcare to employees. Someone tell me I am wrong.