Healthy People Must Buy Insurance

We have gone a long way to get people to stop smoking by taxing it to the point where no one can afford to smoke. We made the argument that these taxes would be used to pay for “smoke related illnesses” that the American taxpayer was currently paying. That seemed like a good argument, except that the real reason was the campaign to convince people how unhealthy smoking really was just was not working. If I can not convince you that smoking is bad for you, then I will make cigarettes $10 a pack instead of $10 a carton so you can not afford to smoke. According to the statistics, a large number of people have finally “seen the light” and quit.

The problem we are having now is that the healthy people, the “non-smokers” of healthcare are saying, “I’m a healthy person, why should I pay high premiums for health insurance I never use?” This type of logic would seem to make good sense from a personal perspective. I know people who live in large metropolitan areas who don’t own cars. They live and shop in their own neighborhoods and commute to work using mass transit. When they want to leave town, they rent a car and that is cheaper than the monthly upkeep and insurance on a car.

The President is quoted as saying, "People have made some pretty compelling arguments to me that if we want to have a system that drives down costs for everybody, then we've got to have healthier people not opt out of the system," Okay, so if we want to make sure the American automobile industry stays sound, then every American should be compelled to own at least one American made car. Buy as many of any other car as you like, but you must buy at least one American made car at least once each decade. Truthfully, if everyone is compelled to have health insurance, as President Obama desires, then the cost for all to have health insurance will surely go down; won’t it? I mean, if we equally share in the bounty of our economy then we can eliminate poverty, right? At least great thinkers like Karl Marx have thought so.

_____________________________________
1. "ABC News Exclusive: President Obama Shares His Health Care Vision - ABC News." ABCNews.com - Breaking news, politics, online news, world news, feature stories, celebrity interviews and more - ABC News. 24 June 2009. 24 June 2009

Old Friends

I connected with an old friend today, Rick Marshall. We didn't meet, but I found his blog and was able to do a little catching up. Rick and I go back a ways, having both worked at the Seattle VA for a spell. We collaborated on some things with World VistA, and we have had some interesting discussions over the years. Rick is the all-round genius on a lot of things, and it is always a joy just to sit and listen to him expound on just about anything. His energy is contagious and his enthusiasm knows no bounds. I look forward to watching his blog and commenting here and there where I think I understand what he is talking about :)