tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498725671447004370.post6627668496226657894..comments2023-10-26T07:19:41.446-05:00Comments on Science Avenger: Jon Stewart Clobbers William Kristol on Health CareScienceAvengerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00855046387193200080noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498725671447004370.post-63789783092116920332009-08-10T16:50:52.861-05:002009-08-10T16:50:52.861-05:00OK Vernon, I'll bite:
What is AHEFT?
How and...OK Vernon, I'll bite:<br /><br />What is AHEFT?<br /><br />How and who has been breeding blacks? How have they been limiting your lives?<br /><br />What about boomer blacks?<br /><br />What's your basis for claiming that pensions caused the market to crash?ScienceAvengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00855046387193200080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498725671447004370.post-59614127999742289652009-08-10T11:08:06.311-05:002009-08-10T11:08:06.311-05:00AHEFT shows African American health care has long ...AHEFT shows African American health care has long been rationed by breeding us to limit our lives, so why should we pay for all those boomer pensions we will never benefit from? After all, it was the boomer pensions which caused the market to crash.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498725671447004370.post-90118443818569587652009-08-10T04:32:04.879-05:002009-08-10T04:32:04.879-05:00I haven't been following the US healthcare deb...I haven't been following the US healthcare debate very closely (I'm British, and there's only so many US political issues one can follow), but from what I have seen, I can add another anti-reform argument that strikes me as particularly poor (and either ignorant or deliberately disingenuous), namely repeatedly bringing up examples of how terrible British healthcare (supposedly) is because some treatments are not available on the NHS, or because you have to may have to wait for treatment.<br /><br />Now, I freely admit that the NHS has some major problems, and I wouldn't recommend you directly copying it even if it was politically feasible to do so (it can probably serve as an example of what not do as often as what to do).<br /><br />However, this argument completely ignores the fact that <i>private health care is available in the UK as well</i>.<br /><br />Britain isn't some sort of communist society where only state-run services are legal.GravityIsJustATheorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498725671447004370.post-29110856688649285242009-08-08T17:38:52.133-05:002009-08-08T17:38:52.133-05:00You got right to the heart of the issue. Until so...You got right to the heart of the issue. Until society is willing to let people who make poor decisions die in the streets, any talk of no socialized medicine is disingenuous.ScienceAvengerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00855046387193200080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498725671447004370.post-86369507138514297332009-08-08T17:00:09.692-05:002009-08-08T17:00:09.692-05:00My favorite is that reform opponents will, practic...My favorite is that reform opponents will, practically in the same breath, opine that the government never does anything efficiently or effectively, but that private insurers wouldn't be able to compete with a government-run plan. Shouldn't it be easy for private insurers to compete with the government?<br /><br />You are exactly right about adverse selection being a major issue. The flip side of adverse selection is skimming: insuring only those unlikely to make claims. Both have to be regulated in some way. Insurance is all about sharing risk, and works best when the risk is shared as broadly as possible.<br /><br />I agree in theory that giving the consumer credit for prior participation is at least a partial solution to adverse selection. (It has to be coupled with regulation to prevent skimming, so that cost differentials come from operational efficiencies. Too, people have to enter into the system at some point, which can get complicated.) In practice, it would be a good first step, but there are an awful lot of unwise or stupid people out there. Everyone from Barak Obama to Suze Orman to Oprah Winfrey could be screaming to buy insurance while young and healthy, and there would still be uninsured people showing up with heart disease or cancer and not much money to pay for treatment. How would you approach that problem? How do you feel about mandated coverage?Luke H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17526959547500069166noreply@blogger.com