a facebook post about penalizing the public for not buying healthcare: Help me respond:

[rainy]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=190387481091662&set=a.119065881557156.20092.118365728293838&type=1&ref=nf

I'm Sharon:


Jim: This would make sense, if there wasn't a law saying the insurance company must provide lots of expensive services and take anyone who wants them. TANSTAAFL.
22 hours ago · Like

Kelly: TANSTAAFL?????
16 hours ago · Like

Jim: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
16 hours ago · Like · 1

Sharon: It's not a penalty it's a fee so that when the uninsured show up in the ER the tax payer will not have to pick up the tab through higher premiums etc. let's try single-payer insurance and eliminate the insurance companies all together
11 hours ago via mobile · Like

Jim: Having dealt with the VA (one of our current government run single payer systems), you do NOT want single payer in this country.
11 hours ago · Like

Sharon: Single payer does not mean government run healthcare.
11 hours ago via mobile · Like

Jim: Yes, it does. He who controls the money makes the rules.
11 hours ago · Like

Sharon: You still get to pick your doctor. Single payer just means there is no profit. A non-profit-private organization can run the single-payer not the government. The private for profit insurance companies owe allegiance to their stock holders n...
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about an hour ago · Like

Jim: It goes to government overhead and inefficiency. A single appointed non-profit that controls 1/6 of the economy is a de facto government entity. It will attract rent-seeking like every other government entity (Fannie and Freddy and the po...
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45 minutes ago · Like · 1

Kelly: Go Jim Rodden! Basically the government becomes the monopoly in town and we're all screwed!
37 minutes ago · Like

Jim: The solution is more competition, not less. Stop erecting barriers to competition between insurance companies and make them actually serve their customers. Insurance is already one of the most regulated industries in the country, and we see how happy most people are with their insurance companies.
35 minutes ago · Like

[MooseTrax]

1. Over 500 Companies In The U S Make A Profit From Sick People......

.........and we rate 37th in the world in general health and longevity.

Think about liability insurance for one's automobile.....everybody has to carry it to protect the innocent victims in case of an accident. I believe that's a pretty good analogy.

Folks who carry no health insurance but show up frequently in emergency rooms don't exactly thrill me. Somebody has to pay for that.

We needed some changes in our health insurance programs and this is a start...though I would have preferred a single payer program.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. So I gather Jim has purchased private insurance from a competitive company

in lieu of the VA care.

By the way, it's been proven that Medicare (that awful government-run healthcare) is much more efficient than private insurance.

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2011/09/20/medicare-is-more-efficient-than-private-insurance/

[Johonny]

3. VA Outranks Private Sector in Health Care Patient Satisfaction

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=14560

apparently Jim is in the minority.

Either way can Jim give an example where government cut down barriers and improved competition? Usually the Government needs to step in an force companies to not collude or simply dissolve into a monopoly. For instance less banking regulations hasn't increased banking competition, it has decreased your banking options! There is no there in Jim's argument and it certainly isn't fact based.

[surrealAmerican]

4. One point on which he is totally wrong:

Government is actually more efficient than private insurers (there have been studies that back up this claim). A single-payer system would also result in less overhead for medical providers.

[MooseTrax]

5. Look Out!!!

Be careful not to advocate anything which might curtail massive profits for the insurance companies...the Republicans would suck a large one to prevent any changes in that direction.