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Haste makes waste has never been truer in terms of health-care reform
The Coloradoan
By: Peter Trozan
7.26.2009
The Coloradoan, July 26, 2009
Talk about crazy ideas. The NFL wants to try out a new concept during the pre-season.
When the Broncos and Raiders play in Oakland, the referees will wear Raider caps and will be chosen from a pool of former and current members of the Raiders organization who have given verbal assurances of being "fair" in their calls as referees.
Nevertheless, the whole deal is being met with skepticism since the referees will be allowed to bet on the game they are officiating.
If the above were really true, would anyone have a doubt as to who would win the game? Obviously, the Raiders would win since this would not be a level playing field. Yet this scenario is being proposed by those who want to reform health care by introducing a government plan - euphemistically dubbed the "public option" -to compete with private insurance.
Since the Democrats in Congress are pushing to set up a stacked deck, the government plan would obviously win the "competition." But is this a fair match?
The government-run plan will not have to pay taxes to the government. Instead, they will receive huge tax subsidies from taxpayers. The government will tell insurance companies what they can or cannot do while exempting themselves from the rules private carriers must follow.
Finally, to make sure that private plans are guaranteed to lose this "competition" current congressional proposals are to increase the taxes that private insurance plans must pay.
You don't have a fair match when one of the players is also the referee.
Am I arguing against health-care reform? No. I believe reform is overdue. But it must be done right. Why is Obama rushing legislation at such breakneck speed that legislators don't even have time to read it? We have seen the pork and boondoggle created by rushing the stimulus bill without proper debate.
Do we want to repeat the same mistake on an even bigger - and permanent -scale with health-care reform? The old adage of "haste makes waste" has never been truer.
Here are a few reasons to think and make wise - not hasty - decisions:
The head of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has testified that all of the leading Democrat bills will significantly raise healthcare spending. Just the opposite of what needs to be done.
At least 10 million of the uninsured are illegal aliens. Why should taxpayers have to pay for their health care, as would happen under the two leading proposals?
Fraud in Medicaid is estimated at 10 percent of all claims. This wasteful spending due to fraud is far higher than with private insurance companies, which portends worse things to come.
One of the justifications given for a government-run plan is because of "excessive profits" by insurance companies. The fact is that average profits are only 3 to 4 percent. This is far lower than many other industries.
You can download an excellent free study from the Pacific Research Institute, by googling: Sally Pipes, the top 10 Myths of American Health Care. Easy to read and very informative.
Peter Trozan is owner of Trozan Insurance Agency Inc. Call him at (970) 224-5500 or send e-mail to peter@insurancedoctor.com.
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