Healthcare Arithmetic - 12/23/2009

Senator Franken (D - MN) was on CSPAN tonight talking about how good the Healthcare bill is going to be when it becomes law. One of the provisions he pointed out was a provision that will force insurance companies to spend 85% of their revenues on healthcare claims. That sounds great! Now let's do some math. It is easier to comprehend when taken to a small element...

Year 1 - insurance revenues total $100 / insurance pays $85 / profit: $15
Year 2 - insurance revenues total $150 / insurance pays $128 / profit: $22
Year 3 - insurance revenues total $200/ insurance pays $170 / profit: $30
Year 4 - contract renewal time. Healthcare costs have fallen due to savings from the 2010 Healthcare bill. The doctors' group offers an actual cut in reimbursement charges to the insurance company; isn't that a switch!
Still Year 4 - insurance revenues total $150 / insurance pays $128 / profit: $22
Is that a likely scenario? I don't think so! Not only would an insurance company fight tooth-and-nail to keep the doctor group from reducing their charges, they would fight to have the group increase charges as much as possible, because with the 15% maximum profit, cost savings creates lower profit! Look at the numbers; higher costs = higher profit.

Now if lil 'ol me can figure that out, don't you think them big guys will?

The moral of this story is one I've said before; when the federal government 'fixes' something, 'makes it better' or 'more fair', there are always unintended consequences. For instance, in the '70's, the Nixon administration 'fixed' healthcare by allowing the creation of HMO's, and we know the horror stories following that. So they incrementally 'fixed' all that with more and more regulations.

During WWII, Roosevelt 'fixed' wages (literally) and companies had to come up with ways to recruit good employees. One way was to offer health insurance. That did not end when the war ended, it was encouraged and expanded with:

• tax breaks for companies who sponsored health plans
• tax breaks for employees who enrolled in company sponsored insurance
• the creation of risk pools because of company sponsored health insurance, which is an advantage to the big corporations because they have bigger pools
• reduction of risk to the insurance company because most of the sick people don't have jobs
• none of the above for individuals and self-employed who try to buy insurance on their own

Ever since then, insurance has been tied to employment, so if a person loses a job for whatever reason, they lose their health insurance.

Then there's the Commerce Clause in the Constitution that Congress constantly perverts so they can pass unconstitutional laws (more about that in The Wedge below). Insurance is a valid instance where the government could use that clause for good. Instead of telling the states to allow interstate commerce as the Interstate Commerce Clause intends, they do the reverse! Health insurance cannot be bought from another state! I live in Arkansas and I buy my auto insurance from a company in Texas. I choose this company because of their rock-solid customer service. I don't even know if I'm getting the best rates, but I don't plan to change because I like the company and I trust them (USAA). It is my choice how much of a premium I place on customer service, rates, and all the other factors that influence my purchasing decisions. When I lost my job I didn't lose my auto insurance. It's not tied to my employment or my state.

When government 'fixes' something, it causes irreparable damage most of the time. Based on this blog post, I could fix healthcare with a ten page bill. Heaven only knows what that 2000 page bill is going to do. 2000 pages holds a lot of places to try to hide things. I better close this post now instead of waiting 'till my head is empty, otherwise this might be a 2000 page blog, then there will be no chance that the people in Congress will read it!

Bill Bulgier- September 21, 2009, 12:57 PM

President Obama's Speech Sept, 8, 2009

If I had children in preK - 12 I would keep them home on Monday and Tuesday, the 7th and 8th, because I do not know what he will say to the children, but from the instructions to the teachers, there is potential for an indoctrination session to take place; and I wouldn't put it past them/him because the general consensus is 'get to the children early if you want to help shape their thinking'. I want some answers ahead of time before I turn my kids' minds over to the government. Answers to questions like:

1- What is the purpose of setting aside so much time for the children to work, study, and discuss the president's speech?

2- Why do you want to know how children can help in schools? They are only between the ages of 4 and 12! Given the current debates on Cap and Trade, Healthcare, Bailouts, TARP, and the surprising and overwhelming showing of frustration by the general public in Town Hall meetings, is this really a questions of 'how can you take this propaganda home and tell your parents their stupid'? Or is this a long-term strategy to change the direction of thinking in the next generation?

3- How are the teachers supposed to steer the following discussion:

Why is it important that we listen to the president and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?

Is what they say important because they are our elected officials and they determine the direction of our country? If so, I want to keep them home and teach them about the Constitution which specifically states that the rights belong to the people, not the government. I want to tell the children that it is much less important for us to listen to them than FOR THEM TO LISTEN TO US!

4- I want answers to these questions before they are asked of the children:
What is the president trying to tell me?
What is the president asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?

5- Instead of these questions going to the children:

Students might think about the following:
What specific job is he asking me to do?
Is he asking anything of anyone else?
Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?

I might ask, "Why are the requests coming from the government to the people? Who works for whom?"

I like to keep things short, and I have too many questions for this post. Please read the communique sent to the teachers and school administrators and help me figure out what the goal of the president is. I have posted the communique in its entirety on this blog.

President Obama’s Address to Students Across America

Menu of Classroom Activities
(PreK‐6)
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education
September 8, 2009

Before the Speech

• Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama. Teachers could motivate students by asking the following questions:
Who is the President of the United States?
What do you think it takes to be president?
To whom do you think the president is going to be speaking?
Why do you think he wants to speak to you?
What do you think he will say to you?

• Teachers can ask students to imagine that they are delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States.
If you were the president, what would you tell students?
What can students do to help in our schools?
Teachers can chart ideas about what students would say.

• Why is it important that we listen to the president and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?
During the Speech

• As the president speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Students could use a note‐taking graphic organizer such as a “cluster web;” or, students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children could draw pictures and write as appropriate. As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following:
What is the president trying to tell me?
What is the president asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?

• Students could record important parts of the speech where the president is asking them to do something. Students might think about the following:
What specific job is he asking me to do?
Is he asking anything of anyone else?
Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?

• Students could record questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.

2 After the Speech

• Teachers could ask students to share the ideas they recorded, exchange sticky notes, or place notes on a butcher‐paper poster in the classroom to discuss main ideas from the speech, such as citizenship, personal responsibility, and civic duty.

• Students could discuss their responses to the following questions:
What do you think the president wants us to do?
Does the speech make you want to do anything?
Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?
What would you like to tell the president?
Extension of the Speech
Teachers could extend learning by having students:

• Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants, puzzle pieces, or trails marked with the following labels: personal, academic, community, and country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in that area. It might make sense to focus first on personal and academic goals so that community and country goals can be more readily created.

• Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short‐term and long‐term education goals. Teachers would collect and redistribute these letters at an appropriate later date to enable students to monitor their progress.

• Write goals on colored index cards or precut designs to post around the classroom.

• Interview one another and share goals with the class to create a supportive community.

• Participate in school‐wide incentive programs or contests for those students who achieve their goals.

• Write about their goals in a variety of genres, such as poems, songs, and personal essays.

• Create artistic projects based on the themes of their goals.

• Graph individual progress toward goals.

The Wedge...

Let’s look at what happens after congress claims a right from an individual and it is upheld by the Supreme Court. In the ‘40s, some government agency made some guy stop growing wheat in his back yard even though it was for his own use. They claimed that power over this individual’s right because, they said, it affected interstate commerce. The famous “Interstate Commerce Clause”. The Supreme Court upheld the rulings. Now congress claims the right to intrude into every aspect of individual rights, claiming the Interstate Commerce Clause gives them the authority, even the duty.

The moral of this story is that every right that is transferred from the people to the federal government is a wooden wedge in the crack of our Constitutional rock. Congress can then slowly widen that wedge over time by pouring water over the wooden wedge, causing the wood to swell and the crack to slowly widen so they can stick a bigger wedge in there and start the water treatment all over again. It is not very difficult to split a rock if you have the time, but try putting that rock back together again! How long will it take before the rock is completely broken in two?

The mightiest rock cannot withstand a wedge and a bucket of water.

National Debt Road Trip

http://www.garynorth.com/public/5168.cfm

The Essence of Freedom

The essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government.
When government's power grows, people's freedom recedes.

http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment

Benjamin Franklin

"No man's life, liberty or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session."

-- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US Founding Father

The patriot is a scarce man...

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain

CREATE CRIMINALS

Philosopher Ayn Rand said: "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one "makes" them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted -- and you create a nation of law-breakers-and then you cash in on the guilt." (Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged")