SCAMS
REVISITED
Healthcare
reform . . . Yes, this truly belongs under the Scams category. This
near-universal transformation of the healthcare system is nothing
more than the infantile wishes of the president & a few congressional
dictators translated into law. Almost no thought was given to how
to actually realize it in the real world. The catastrophe is just
now taking shape. Even our Dear Leader's convenient exercise of
patently illegal powers won't save it now. What happens next is
anyone's guess. If you are part of the unfortunate millions who
have had or will have insurance cancelled, the outlook is grim.
As matters now stand, you will, at least in the short term, effectively
return to a system where you will pay cash to your medical provider
for services. (And on the positive side, those prices are likely
to be surprisingly far lower than one would expect.) Even if you
succeed in traversing the exchange enrollment minefields, enrolling,
paying horribly costly premiums & reaching the distant out-of-pocket
maximums/deductibles, the medical panels are shrinking rapidly &
many of those providers are already medicaid zombies seeing hundreds
daily. You'll obtain an appointment only with the greatest difficulty,
and your quality of care will be, let's just say dicey.
The
Oracle is going to try really, really hard not to get sick. If you
have a significant medical procedure pending, that ship has probably
sailed. If you're old enough, Medicare is actually the best coverage
around at the moment, although the Obama brain trust respectfully
requests that you be sure & die before you reach age 75.
If
you're one of the elite, very little will change. The "Public
Servants," the ultra-wealthy & public union members will
continue to have treatment much as they have always enjoyed, although
they will be shocked to find themselves in perhaps some cases competing
with the newly-enrolled, unwashed masses from medicaid, along with
other subsidized exchange enrollees. Like the white girl who became
black by saying it's so, the supreme court has, at least for now
made the law say what it's supporters wish they had written. Nevertheless,
the pool of unsubsidized victims will almost certainly dwindle sharply
as people find other ways of funding healthcare, evading the penalties.
Even for those without other coverage, the exchange plan costs,
deductibles, etc make it a no-brainer. (The already confiscatory
premiums are spiking and will continue to do so.) What will eventually
remain is the still huge - and I do mean huge - number of people
getting a free ride via medicaid or subsidies.
The
future? The elites (including the powerful politicians & the
very wealthy) will be treated much as before in "Concierge"
type arrangements, paying cash, or by traveling outside the U.S.
to providers who will leave the US system for locales that allow
value pricing. (Think Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Carribean Islands
etc.) Medical tourism for treatment will grow exponentially as an
option, even for moderate income families. The level of fraud is
sure to make the Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud numbers look like child's
play. Single payer begins to look more and more likely as the eventual
result, once the privately-underwritten plans collapse into insolvency.
The private carriers are only now discovering their deal with the
devil. (Guess who promised their losses would be offset by taxpayer
money.)
Obamacare
is not just another poorly thought out government program. It is
the "fundamental change" the president promised.
WORKERS'
COMP: THE PENDULUM SWINGS (AGAIN)
California
reforms instituted under Gov who's-your-daddy tilted disability
rules & ratings rather heavily in favor of the carriers. Now
the rules have been largely tilted back to the other side. This
accounts for the almost constantly changing market and rates for
comp.
WHAT
THE LOONEY US LEGAL SYSTEM COSTS
Recent
study by a consulting unit of Towers Perrin puts the cost of our
tort system at $260 Billion - yes, that's Billion, projected to
soon rise to $315 Billion. This of course does not include
the unknown other costs of products not made, medical costs imposed
by doctors & others covering their gluteus maximi, people not
getting hired, etc.
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