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8/22/2007
Dr. Kagen won't follow his own prescription
It really bugs me. Hypocrisy, that is. Representative Steve Kagen has pulled his “I am a doctor” out of his hat once too often. He’s definitely pulled out his “I’ve declined health care coverage” schtick once too often too. I’m pretty sick of it.
In case you haven’t heard or seen his magical solutions for health care lately (what Kagen calls his “Declaration of Health”), I’ll do the good doctor a favor and list them below. The wording changes; I think I have the most current version, but won’t guarantee it.1. Openly disclose all prices – so the real price of all health care services and products is always visible and openly disclosed. 2. Unitary Pricing – so we all pay the same price for the same product or service, like ordering from a restaurant menu. Show us your price, and then charge every citizen the same. 3. Create a risk pool of 300 million to reduce prices for all of us, with absolutely no discrimination against any citizen due to any pre-existing conditions. [Kagen begins his health issues paragraph with a big bold disclaimer: “Let me be clear: We do not need socialized medicine – period.” What?]
And then of course there’s the declined congressional health care coverage. “Until every American has decent health care, I won’t take any for myself.” Give me a break. Per the Chicago Tribune/Clarence Page snivel, he “can afford to go without health-insurance coverage more easily than most of the rest of us can. He’s a doctor. His wife is covered at her job, he says, and their kids are grown and have their own coverage.”
As young healthy adults with assumedly very favorable insurance rates, are Dr. Kagen’s children paying the same rates as their mom’s employer is paying for her? Or as we Americans are paying for senior citizen-Medicare beneficiaries? Hmmm. Got to be all in the same risk pool, right? When are we going to get smart young people to be in the same risk pool as us old people for health insurance? They’re not stupid - there’s just no economic justification.
So, there goes Solution #3 out the window.
Now, Unitary Pricing. Talk about no economic justification. A prescription, an office visit, a trip to the nurse practitioner – these things will cost the same in New York City as in Boise, Idaho? Try telling that to Milton Friedman – or even any rare remaining Keynesians out there. There it goes, Solution #2 out the window as well. And what am I missing? How is Unitary Pricing not socialist?
Now, does Dr. Kagen follow his own advice on Solution #1? Absolutely not. More about that tomorrow.
COMMENTS
I've made it plain on here that I'm for a single payer solution and that medicine is a right not a privilege for those with the right amount in their health savings accounts.
But early on Kagen wanted the health care through Medicare-- the Medicare for all approach-- that to me is a single payer plan.
As to socialized medicine and references to it, medicine should rightly be a 'public health and safety' issue. Fire departments, Police departments, and Center for Disease Control are public service branches of government. Medicine is a calling that should be practiced as a service profession.
But most of all, there should be no denial of services to keep third party (i.e. insurance companies) profits healthy.
I can just imagine the newest spin on reverse speech where the POTUS introduces The Healthy Insurance Companies Act.
Lon Ponschock (Wed Aug 22 15:30:29 2007)
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