Back in the 1930s, FDR started up this thing called Social Security. Some would call it a pyramid scheme. And the pyramid is estimated to break in 2037 when there won't be enough youth to pay for the old.
Today, the news is filled with big plans for health care reform. With the federal budget already broken, any reform will have to pay for itself. Guess who is going to end up paying for it? Healthy people will be subsidizing the sick.*
Another burden on the youth. Call me a pessimist with a callous attitude toward the old and the sick.
* Two ways of financing the health care reform are a) taxing employer-sponsored benefits and b) mandating all citizens buy health insurance (Kennedy plan). The insurance companies appear likely to go along with a mandate for every citizen to buy health insurance. Needless to say, the above claim remains pure speculation on my part.
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3 comments:
Remember every other developed country has some type of uni healthcare - it's very possible. We have been paying for the oldies through medicare for a long time, that's not changing here. we'll be paying for the sick middle-aged people group that usually work and support the economy.
Mandating healthcare isn't a way of financing it and I don't think Kennedy or anyone would disagree. Taxing employer-sponsored benefits isn't going to do the trick either. Costs will continue to rise with both options.
The most important thing that will hopefully come out of this is a change in the way we're currently paying for healthcare (stop paying for overtreatment).
Mandating healthcare is a way of financing it. It appears we disagree. (I did not say it would be the only way, but it will be a major way.)
Certainly, we can all agree that over-treatment is a battle worth fighting.
I only see one viable solution: the young eating the old for sustenance.
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