Brian Ashe, CLU
back page »
The Wrong Rx
Government control is no cure for what is wrong
with our health-care system.
My friend, Mark Gaunya, a partner at Borislow Insur- ance Agency, one of the 10
largest group insurance practices in
New England, puts it best:
“How many times have you been to
a sporting event where the referee is
a participant on one of the teams? If
that were to occur, would you expect
the outcome to be fair?”
I know that’s a bit of an oversimplification of the health-care debate but
it gets to the heart of the matter regarding the proposed “public option”
for health care for the majority of the
American people. The facts of life are
that there will be no competition when
one of the “competitors” is both a
player and the one that sets the rules,
leading to the eventual elimination of
private health insurance and the rise
of a single-payer system.
according to Medicare
trustees, the system
will be completely out
of money in 2017. And
these results have occurred
while Medicare is now “subsidized” by
the private system absorbing costs that
Medicare won’t pay via “cost shifting.”
Doctors, hospitals and other medical
vendors currently bill private patients
more to make up for the costs that Medicare refuses to pay for Medicare patients.
There will be no
competition when one
of the “competitors”
is both a player and
sets the rules.
We have an example
of government
participation in
health care and it is
called Medicare.
Under government control
What happens when there is no
private system to shift these costs
to? What happens when 78 million
Baby Boomers flood the Medicare
system looking for reimbursement
for the largest medical expenses they
will incur in their lifetimes? The only
answer: Either program costs have to
go up or the quality of care has to go
down. Or both.
When we look at program costs,
estimates from the Congressional
Budget Office put the “
public-op-tion” price at $1.6 trillion over the
next 10 years. This amount is to be
added to the staggering $13 trillion
of debt the Obama administration
has already placed on the backs of
the American public!
President Obama is, among other
things, talking about increasing taxes
on those making over $250,000 a
year and eliminating itemized deductions to help pay for these enormous
new health-care costs. As he attempts
the government takeover of approximately 20 percent of the gross domestic product for health care alone,
he should remember what Margaret
Thatcher, former prime minister of
England, said: “The problem with
A prime example
Voices get raised on both sides of the
argument as proponents debate what
the public option may look like and
how it may function. Well, I don’t think
we have to wait for a clear picture. I
believe we already have a living, breathing
example of government participation in
health care and it is called Medicare. The
facts, for all to see:
Medicare costs exceeded revenues in
2008, will exceed revenues in 2009 and,
Socialism is that you eventually run
out of other people’s money!”
Does our health-care system need
to be revamped? Of course it does.
From top to bottom. And the debate needs to include things like our
citizens’ lifestyles, tort reform and
defensive medicine, provider and
patient fraud, mandated coverage,
universal access, preexisting condition limitations, design of insurance
to cover “risk” and not to function as
prepaid health care, improved medical
information technology and a better
informed population.
Handing the whole system over to
the same government folks who, a few
years back, to save money, had federal
prisoners answering Social Security
inquiries, should make us sick.
Tell your clients and your elected
representatives the truth. If good
people don’t step up and stand up for
the things they believe in, bad things
are guaranteed to happen. And that’s
a prescription for disaster.;
Brian Ashe, CLU, is the president of
Brian Ashe and Associates, Ltd., in Lisle,
Ill. A past president of MDRT and past
chair of LIFE, he may be contacted at
bashe29843@aol.com.
