Sean Hannity Insider blog for healthcare, October 27, 2007

Post #18

Now the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco-headquartered think tank committed to seeking free-market solutions to major sociological issues, is pointing at an unrecognized villain in America’s health care mess. The PRI’s latest study, “U.S. Index of Health Ownership,” makes a case that “gross overregulation” inflates health costs to the tune of $169.1 billion per year — an average of $1,500 per family yearly.

Even more disturbing, the excessive health care regulations and mandates are accused of actually causing the deaths of some 22,000 Americans a year, 4,000 more than the 18,000 annual deaths attributed to lack of health insurance. These PRI figures are primarily collated from papers done by professors in major universities, including the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley.

The “Index of Health Ownership” bolsters its argument by showing examples of how restrictions of free choice can lower the quality or accessibility of health care for patients: A disabled Medicaid beneficiary still able to live in his or her home might be required to use only a nursing aide assigned by the state, even if he or she prefers a different aide at the same cost. Or a nurse practitioner is unable to establish a low-cost clinic offering treatments she is authorized to provide, because state law requires her to be closely supervised by an M.D.

In other PRI examples: A group of surgeons is ready to invest in a clinic where they will perform only operations they specialize in, but the local acute-care hospital invokes state regulations blocking the competition. A privately insured individual wants to buy a low-premium catastrophic coverage policy while also starting a tax-exempt health savings account, but this option is unavailable under state insurance rules.


http://www.examiner.com/a-768074~Health_care_overregulation_kills.html

Now if this is true,shouldn't we consider other alternatives than MORE governmental intervention?

Post #19

The PRI’s latest study, “U.S. Index of Health Ownership,” makes a case that “gross overregulation” inflates health costs to the tune of $169.1 billion per year — an average of $1,500 per family yearly.