Thursday, February 25, 2010

Petulant Jackass

What a spoiled little jackass we have running the country. Instead of arguing his point, he tries to bully his position. "The election is over..." in other words, shut up. We're playing in my yard so I make the rules.

As the 2 or three people who read this blog know, I'm vehemently opposed to this so called health care reform. I'm sick of the semantics and creative financing touted as being a good thing. For example, the latest cry from the left is that the insurance companies want to raise their rates in spite of the fact that they made billions in profits. Well, let's take a look at that. First of all, not all health insurance companies made such large profits, Here is the latest info I could find. Secondly, the amount of profit doesn't mean anything. It's the profit MARGIN that tells whether or not a company is gouging the customer. Anyone who has run a business knows that anything under a 7% profit margin is near impossible to stay in business. So what is the health care insurance average profit margin? 3.4%. The reason for the large profits is the VOLUME of sales, not the gouging of customers. The only way you can sustain a business on 3.4% profit is by large volumes. Adult beverages averaged over 25% profit. Where's the out cry there?

I have a vested interest in health care reform; my lovely wife is a health care provider. Right now, her clinic is losing money, mainly for two reasons. First, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements are so low that they are having to refuse new patients with these programs. Second, the other insurance companies are running scared (my opinion) and are not reimbursing in a timely manner.

Another popular line out there now is the promise "...not to add one dime to our deficit." or "The plan will be deficit neutral." Sounds good right? Um, not so much cause you see the 1 plus TRILLION dollars has to come from somewhere, and the ONLY place the US government gets money to spend is from TAXES. Nothing is free. They try and spin it so it sounds free, but the only way it can happen is to raise taxes or cut spending somewhere. Yeah right, cut over a trillion dollars somewhere else in the budget? Ain't happening.

I'm not the smartest guy in the room although I do have an IQ higher than Joe Biden; but the fact is simple, basic economics proves that this approach to health care reform is the wrong way. Besides, if it was so f'ing good, why is congress exempting themselves from it?

Whew, my blood pressure is going up, and the way things are going, I won't be able to get health care, so I'd better shut up now.

3 comments:

Buck said...

First, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements are so low that they are having to refuse new patients with these programs.

A BIG issue with me, as I have to go on Medicare next month and give up my heretofore excellent military health care. Which, apropos of frickin' EVERYthing, was promised to me back in the day. Oh, Hell. I need to put the soapbox back under the table. Coz, like the man sez: you can bitch all ya want but it don't do no good.

Rude1 said...

I'm with you Buck. I'm happy with Tri Care, even though when I enlisted, the promise was that I'd have free health care... Even so, you can't beat the TC rates.

Dave (aka Buckskins Rule) said...

I wish he'd just throw his sucker in the dirt and go home.

The Dems keep trying to spin this as those the Republicans are the bad guys. Never mind the evidence that indicates a majority of Americans are against this whole thing. And they will of course be pouting something fierce when a bunch of them go home after November. Fools!

I'll stick with TriCare, thank you very much, although, like you, I wonder what happened to the free part.