Our Congress is concentrating on how to create a huge bureaucracy in order to reduce costs on health insurance and provide health insurance to those without it. Unfortunately, they are not looking at the major problems with the existing health insurance and trying to work a practical solution that does not involve major spending by the Government.
Here is my list of problems as I see them:
(1) Escalating cost of health insurance;
(2) Escalating cost of hospital services;
(3) Escalating cost of doctors, specialists, tests, etc;
(4) Portability of health insurance (keeping the same coverage when you move or change jobs);
(5) Increased cost of prescription drugs; and
(6) Persons unable to afford health insurance.
Let's take a deeper look at these problems.
(1) Escalating cost of health insurance - Why are health insurance costs going up. The primary answer is that insurance companies have to negotiate costs of services with health care providers (doctors, specialists, hospitals, and pharmaceuticals), and these costs continue to go up. However, individual policies go up faster than group policies, since in group policies, you have some people that don't get sick or injured and they help offset the costs for those who do. This is an important point, which I will discuss later.
(2) Escalating costs of hospital services - The main reason that hospital service costs continue to climb is that hospitals must absorb the cost of treating uninsured persons, many of which utilize the emergency rooms as primary care facilities. The other reason is the cost of malpractice insurance policies and other insurance policies required to lower their risk of law suits.
(3) Escalating cost of doctors, specialists, tests, etc. - The main reason for increased cost of doctors, specialists, tests, etc is malpractice insurance policies.
(4) Portability of health insurance - Since each State regulates Insurance companies, when you cross a State line, that particular insurance company may or may not be allowed to do business in that State. In addition, the company you are moving to may be utilizing a different insurance company than your previous company.
(5) Increased cost of prescription drugs - This actually is not true. When a prescription drug becomes "generic", the cost goes down considerably and many pharmacies now have $4/month prescriptions on most generic drugs. New drugs however do cost considerably more and there is good reason for it. Pharmaceutical companies must develop these new drugs and each must go through rigorous testing before the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) will allow them to be sold. It can take upwards of 5-10 years (or longer) to formulate these new drugs, costing many millions of dollars to develop and manufacture. In order to recover these costs, they must charge an amount that will recover these R&D (research and development) costs in a reasonable amount of time.
(6) Persons unable to afford health insurance - There are approximately 50 million uninsured persons in the United States. There are also approximately 250 million persons who are insured (I rounded off the numbers to make later computations easier).
So, how do we get all these costs down?
First, Congress needs to pass a bill to limit liability of Doctors, hospitals, specialists, and pharmaceutical companies for malpractice suits (Tort Reform). By capping (limiting) the amount an individual (or group) can get for malpractice, the cost of malpractice insurance will go down and will lower the overall cost of health care.
Second, as I pointed out earlier, Group Insurance is cheaper than Individual Insurance. Congress needs to establish an entity to act as a Group and allow those persons who cannot get health insurance to join. However, they also need to make sure that persons that have health insurance available to them (through their employer, Medicare, Medicaid, Military, VA, etc.) are not allowed to drop coverage to enter this Group. As a Group, they can negotiate (or ask existing Insurance Companies to bid) for Group rates or they could require existing Insurance Companies to cover this Group as a percentage of their existing policies.
What type of Health Insurance should this Group have? Catastrophic Health Insurance costs, on average, about $20 per month per person and this should be the minimum. This could be covered in the same manner as the State's Uninsured Motorist Funds - that is, existing policy holders would have a monthly surcharge of $4 added to their monthly premium (the ratio is 5 to 1 - insured to uninsured), which covers the $20 per month per uninsured person. With the reduction of malpractice insurance, this should actually not increase the premium, since likely the premium would drop more than that amount due to Tort Reform. The Group should also have an option of picking up additional PPO, HMO, etc. insurance if the individual wants it and can pay for it.
Next, portability is a real problem that probably cannot be solved in its' entirety. Employer's have the right to select any insurance company that offers them the best rates and I wouldn't want to see that changed. However, Governor's of all States should get together and come up with a common set of criteria for registering insurance companies and regulating them so that all insurance companies could operate in all states. This is not a Federal Government problem but rather an issue from State to State.
Last, let's discuss costs of medicine. As I mentioned before, most pharmacies offer generic drugs at an affordable price for everyone, but what about these new drugs (if they are an only option)? Most pharmaceutical companies have programs to provide these drugs at reduced or no cost to persons who cannot afford them and would not survive without them. There is no reason to get the Government involved except perhaps to provide a central website listing how to contact each pharmaceutical company.
Now, what has this option cost the taxpayer - basically ZERO! Congress is about to go on it's summer recess and will be listening to their constituents. Present this idea to them or one of your own. Let's not complicate things by getting the Government involved too much. They have a role to play but not in subsidizing health care - Tort Reform, establishing a Group entity, and providing information is all we citizens need!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Free, Free, Free
Free, Free, Free
Free health care! Free housing! Free US Government grants! Bull S***!
There ain’t no free lunch, dinner, health care, housing, US Government grants, or anything else! Everything costs something!
Who pays for it? Taxpayers, that’s who! Not the US Government, not the State Government, not the local Government, but taxpayers. Oh yes, the Government doles it out – they love to spend taxpayer money, pretending that it is their own to give out as they see fit. Well, it’s time to tighten the lease and make some changes!
Hope and Change! Hope for what - Money trees? Change for what – higher prices, fewer jobs, Government ownership? WAKE UP PEOPLE! Get off your duff and make things happen on your own! You don’t need Government – Government needs you! That’s right, they need you and slowly they are getting you. Voluntary service for Government grants to go to college. What good is a degree if the Government is the only employer? Tax the rich! The rich will leave! No rich people to tax? Who’s next? YOU, YOU MORON!
Go GREEN MAN! What the h-e-double hockey sticks does that mean? Stop burning carbon? Tell that to Mother Nature – NO MORE VOLCANOS PLEASE! Oh yeah and don’t forget to stop using your car, trains, buses, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, A/C, heat, refrigerators, stoves, ovens, computers, cell phones, i-pods, televisions, radios, CD players, DVD players, Bluetooth, etc, etc. All use carbon in one way or another. WAKE UP PEOPLE! This is not about Green, Man-made Global Warming, carbon dioxide, saving the planet, or saving the green-purple toad! This is about power and control. The elite have taken over – doesn’t matter if they are Bushies or Obamaites. They all want the same thing – power and control over the people.
Tried buying ammo for you guns lately? There ain’t much out there. They can’t change the right to bear arms but they certainly can buy up all the ammo. Keep your gun. Maybe you can throw it at someone.
First, it was Bush’s bailout, next was Obama’s stimulus package, next was the take over of the automotive industry (well, at least Ford saw the writing on the wall), next (pending Senate approval) Cap and Trade, next Government controlled Health Care (maybe – people are finally beginning to wake up), a second stimulus package (yeah, that first one really got things going), next will be Government controlled gasoline (oh yeah, they haven’t forgotten about controlling that industry), Bad food taxes (soda pop, French fries, hot dogs, fast food, candy, cake, pastry), and that’s just the beginning! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
“So, what can we do? After all, we only have the vote, and besides thirty-some percent of us don’t care because we don’t pay taxes anyway!” Yeah, you slackers don’t pay taxes so make everyone else suffer like you. Bet you got your cell phone, probably an iPod plugged into your ear listening to garbage and worrying about what big name celebrity is doing it with what other big name celebrity. That’s YOUR contribution to society! You just remain happy in your little world that’s slowly crumbling beneath you without you even being aware of it. At least go get a copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and read it through. What it says might surprise you (if you can actually comprehend it). Government security means loss of freedom. WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Free health care! Free housing! Free US Government grants! Bull S***!
There ain’t no free lunch, dinner, health care, housing, US Government grants, or anything else! Everything costs something!
Who pays for it? Taxpayers, that’s who! Not the US Government, not the State Government, not the local Government, but taxpayers. Oh yes, the Government doles it out – they love to spend taxpayer money, pretending that it is their own to give out as they see fit. Well, it’s time to tighten the lease and make some changes!
Hope and Change! Hope for what - Money trees? Change for what – higher prices, fewer jobs, Government ownership? WAKE UP PEOPLE! Get off your duff and make things happen on your own! You don’t need Government – Government needs you! That’s right, they need you and slowly they are getting you. Voluntary service for Government grants to go to college. What good is a degree if the Government is the only employer? Tax the rich! The rich will leave! No rich people to tax? Who’s next? YOU, YOU MORON!
Go GREEN MAN! What the h-e-double hockey sticks does that mean? Stop burning carbon? Tell that to Mother Nature – NO MORE VOLCANOS PLEASE! Oh yeah and don’t forget to stop using your car, trains, buses, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, A/C, heat, refrigerators, stoves, ovens, computers, cell phones, i-pods, televisions, radios, CD players, DVD players, Bluetooth, etc, etc. All use carbon in one way or another. WAKE UP PEOPLE! This is not about Green, Man-made Global Warming, carbon dioxide, saving the planet, or saving the green-purple toad! This is about power and control. The elite have taken over – doesn’t matter if they are Bushies or Obamaites. They all want the same thing – power and control over the people.
Tried buying ammo for you guns lately? There ain’t much out there. They can’t change the right to bear arms but they certainly can buy up all the ammo. Keep your gun. Maybe you can throw it at someone.
First, it was Bush’s bailout, next was Obama’s stimulus package, next was the take over of the automotive industry (well, at least Ford saw the writing on the wall), next (pending Senate approval) Cap and Trade, next Government controlled Health Care (maybe – people are finally beginning to wake up), a second stimulus package (yeah, that first one really got things going), next will be Government controlled gasoline (oh yeah, they haven’t forgotten about controlling that industry), Bad food taxes (soda pop, French fries, hot dogs, fast food, candy, cake, pastry), and that’s just the beginning! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
“So, what can we do? After all, we only have the vote, and besides thirty-some percent of us don’t care because we don’t pay taxes anyway!” Yeah, you slackers don’t pay taxes so make everyone else suffer like you. Bet you got your cell phone, probably an iPod plugged into your ear listening to garbage and worrying about what big name celebrity is doing it with what other big name celebrity. That’s YOUR contribution to society! You just remain happy in your little world that’s slowly crumbling beneath you without you even being aware of it. At least go get a copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and read it through. What it says might surprise you (if you can actually comprehend it). Government security means loss of freedom. WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Which Congressman or Senator will have the guts to introduce this bill?
One of the problems with legislation is that it is filled with legal jargon - so much so that ordinary citizens (let alone fellow legislators) cannot understand or follow them. What I am proposing is that a bill be introduced that requires other legislation to be written is such a way as to allow the average citizen to understand what is being proposed; limit amendments, additions, earmarks, etc. to relate only to the original intent of the bill; to list on all legislation any and all outside contributors; to allow sufficient time for legislators to completely read the proposed bill; to allow a sufficient amount of time for all citizens to read the bill before it is voted on; and finally to utilize a recall of any legislator that does not follow these procedures. Following is a draft of that bill:
"HR
111th CONGRESS
Session
H. R.
AN ACT
To simplify text of Congressional legislation so that average Americans are able to thoroughly understand exactly the intent of Congress in passing these Bills and Resolutions and to disallow earmarks, amendments, riders, and/or add-ons that have no logical relationship to the Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Simplification of Legislation Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In recent years legislation has become more complicated in language.
(2) Many earmarks, amendments, riders, and add-ons have been added to legislation. Many of these have no relationship to the actual legislation being considered.
(3) The American people are fed up with Congress writing legislation that is totally unreadable to the average American and can only be understood by persons with a background in legal jargon.
(4) The American people are fed up with Congress enacting legislation that contains unrelated provisions and appropriates funds outside the scope of the intended purpose of the legislation.
(5) The American people are fed up with Congress developing and passing legislation that is not read and properly analyzed by members of Congress, mainly due to not allowing a sufficient amount of time for members to read, provide input back to their constituents and receive feedback.
(6) The American people are fed up with Congress developing and passing legislation that originates from and favors powerful lobby interests and not from constituents.
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF LEGISLATIVE TEXT.
(a) Comprehension Level of Legislation -
(1) IN GENERAL- With the exception of scientific terms, all legislation must have a comprehension level that the average American citizen can understand.
(2) DEFINITIONS-
(A) WRITTEN COMPREHENSION LEVELS- Levels of written comprehension are defined as -
(i) Level 1 – Elementary - Basic command of the language needed in a range of familiar situations, for example: can understand and pass on simple messages.
(ii) Level 2 – Lower intermediate - Limited but effective command of the language in familiar situations, for example: can take part in a routine meeting on familiar topics, particularly in an exchange of simple factual information.
(iii) Level 3 – Upper Intermediate - Generally effective command of the language in a range of situations, for example: can make a contribution to discussions on practical matters.
(iv) Level 4 – Lower Advanced - Good operational command of the language in a wide range of real world and meetings; and situations, for example: can participate effectively in discussions
(v) Level 5 – Upper Advanced - Fully operational command of the language at a high level in most situations, for example: can argue a case confidently, justifying and making points persuasively.
(B) NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION- The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)is a nationally representative assessment of English literacy among American adults age 16 and older. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NAAL is the nation's most comprehensive measure of adult literacy.
(i) NAAL has established four levels of Prose Literacy –
(a) Below Basic – no more than the most simple and concrete literary skills;
(b) Basic – can perform simple and everyday literary activities;
(c) Intermediate – can perform moderately challenging literary activities; and
(d) Proficient – can perform complex and challenging literary activities.
(C) RECENT STATISTICS – Information available from as recent as 2003, indicates that roughly eighty-five percent of American citizens are at Level 4 and have an Intermediate level of Prose Literacy.
(b) Vocabulary- The average American citizen has a vocabulary level of between 850 and 950 words (excluding proper nouns and specialized terms). This should be taken into consideration when writing legislation.
(c) New Legislation – Any Legislation written after the passage of this bill:
(1) Text of Legislation will be -
(A) easy to read and comprehend by:
(i) Ensuring that “legal-ease” be removed and replaced with simple to understand terms and concepts;
(ii) No earmarks, amendments, riders, and/or add-ons that are not directly related to the intent of the original Legislation.
(iii) All Legislation must be released to Legislators with adequate time to be properly read and analyzed, provide input back to their constituents and receive feedback.
(iv) All legislation must provide the original source of the draft and what groups or persons outside of Congress provided input
(2) Public Access prior to votes -
(A) All Legislation (with final markup) will be made available to the public a minimum of ten working days prior to scheduled final vote.
(B) No Legislation will be allowed for Floor vote without meeting those conditions stated in this bill.
(3) The Congress may waive these provisions only in the case of a National Emergency, where an immediate response is the only logical course of action.
(d) Additional Conditions – Failure of a Legislator to read Legislation prior to a Floor vote may be interpreted as non-performance of his or her duties to their respective constituents and may be used as grounds for recall.
Passed the House of Representatives.
Attest:
,
Clerk.
END"
So Congressman or Senator - I have written the draft for you. When will you introduce it?
"HR
111th CONGRESS
Session
H. R.
AN ACT
To simplify text of Congressional legislation so that average Americans are able to thoroughly understand exactly the intent of Congress in passing these Bills and Resolutions and to disallow earmarks, amendments, riders, and/or add-ons that have no logical relationship to the Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Simplification of Legislation Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In recent years legislation has become more complicated in language.
(2) Many earmarks, amendments, riders, and add-ons have been added to legislation. Many of these have no relationship to the actual legislation being considered.
(3) The American people are fed up with Congress writing legislation that is totally unreadable to the average American and can only be understood by persons with a background in legal jargon.
(4) The American people are fed up with Congress enacting legislation that contains unrelated provisions and appropriates funds outside the scope of the intended purpose of the legislation.
(5) The American people are fed up with Congress developing and passing legislation that is not read and properly analyzed by members of Congress, mainly due to not allowing a sufficient amount of time for members to read, provide input back to their constituents and receive feedback.
(6) The American people are fed up with Congress developing and passing legislation that originates from and favors powerful lobby interests and not from constituents.
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF LEGISLATIVE TEXT.
(a) Comprehension Level of Legislation -
(1) IN GENERAL- With the exception of scientific terms, all legislation must have a comprehension level that the average American citizen can understand.
(2) DEFINITIONS-
(A) WRITTEN COMPREHENSION LEVELS- Levels of written comprehension are defined as -
(i) Level 1 – Elementary - Basic command of the language needed in a range of familiar situations, for example: can understand and pass on simple messages.
(ii) Level 2 – Lower intermediate - Limited but effective command of the language in familiar situations, for example: can take part in a routine meeting on familiar topics, particularly in an exchange of simple factual information.
(iii) Level 3 – Upper Intermediate - Generally effective command of the language in a range of situations, for example: can make a contribution to discussions on practical matters.
(iv) Level 4 – Lower Advanced - Good operational command of the language in a wide range of real world and meetings; and situations, for example: can participate effectively in discussions
(v) Level 5 – Upper Advanced - Fully operational command of the language at a high level in most situations, for example: can argue a case confidently, justifying and making points persuasively.
(B) NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION- The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)is a nationally representative assessment of English literacy among American adults age 16 and older. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NAAL is the nation's most comprehensive measure of adult literacy.
(i) NAAL has established four levels of Prose Literacy –
(a) Below Basic – no more than the most simple and concrete literary skills;
(b) Basic – can perform simple and everyday literary activities;
(c) Intermediate – can perform moderately challenging literary activities; and
(d) Proficient – can perform complex and challenging literary activities.
(C) RECENT STATISTICS – Information available from as recent as 2003, indicates that roughly eighty-five percent of American citizens are at Level 4 and have an Intermediate level of Prose Literacy.
(b) Vocabulary- The average American citizen has a vocabulary level of between 850 and 950 words (excluding proper nouns and specialized terms). This should be taken into consideration when writing legislation.
(c) New Legislation – Any Legislation written after the passage of this bill:
(1) Text of Legislation will be -
(A) easy to read and comprehend by:
(i) Ensuring that “legal-ease” be removed and replaced with simple to understand terms and concepts;
(ii) No earmarks, amendments, riders, and/or add-ons that are not directly related to the intent of the original Legislation.
(iii) All Legislation must be released to Legislators with adequate time to be properly read and analyzed, provide input back to their constituents and receive feedback.
(iv) All legislation must provide the original source of the draft and what groups or persons outside of Congress provided input
(2) Public Access prior to votes -
(A) All Legislation (with final markup) will be made available to the public a minimum of ten working days prior to scheduled final vote.
(B) No Legislation will be allowed for Floor vote without meeting those conditions stated in this bill.
(3) The Congress may waive these provisions only in the case of a National Emergency, where an immediate response is the only logical course of action.
(d) Additional Conditions – Failure of a Legislator to read Legislation prior to a Floor vote may be interpreted as non-performance of his or her duties to their respective constituents and may be used as grounds for recall.
Passed the House of Representatives
Attest:
Clerk.
END"
So Congressman or Senator - I have written the draft for you. When will you introduce it?
Fight Fire with Fire
The goal of leftist organizations is to overwhelm the system. This is done by placing such a demand on Government entities that they cannot possible keep up and therefore "crash". Whether this is submission by mail, phone, email, direct input to Government web sites doesn't matter - the goal is to increase workload beyond the ability of that particular Government entity to meet the demand.
Currently, the House of Representatives and Senate are taking direction from the Executive Branch and trying to pass as many bills as possible that spend money for "pet" projects; take over the ownership (or at least the control) of large segments of the business community; or provide expanded Federal regulations to frustrate business owners.
In order to fight this massive takeover by our government, I propose that people meet with their elected representatives and remind them that they are in office at the whim of the people in their congressional districts. At the same time, prepare a piece of draft legislation that you think would help you and other people in your district and ask the representative to introduce your bill.
Let's suppose that 100 persons present draft bills to each of their representatives. These bills should be about reforming the Federal Government in such a manner as to make it more difficult to pass legislation. For example: term limits, limitations on congressional staff hiring, transparency on how much each Congressman and Senator spends for his own office, limitations on congressional salary increase during recessions and depressions. You get the idea.
So, now is the time for action. Get off your lazy duff and call, write, or visit your elected representative with a draft bill in hand. These people work for you! If they don't do what you want - fire them! Make it clear that if they do not represent you, then you will have to find someone to run against them that does. Remember, Congressmen have to face re-election every two years (unlike Senators, which I will discuss in a later post).
Currently, the House of Representatives and Senate are taking direction from the Executive Branch and trying to pass as many bills as possible that spend money for "pet" projects; take over the ownership (or at least the control) of large segments of the business community; or provide expanded Federal regulations to frustrate business owners.
In order to fight this massive takeover by our government, I propose that people meet with their elected representatives and remind them that they are in office at the whim of the people in their congressional districts. At the same time, prepare a piece of draft legislation that you think would help you and other people in your district and ask the representative to introduce your bill.
Let's suppose that 100 persons present draft bills to each of their representatives. These bills should be about reforming the Federal Government in such a manner as to make it more difficult to pass legislation. For example: term limits, limitations on congressional staff hiring, transparency on how much each Congressman and Senator spends for his own office, limitations on congressional salary increase during recessions and depressions. You get the idea.
So, now is the time for action. Get off your lazy duff and call, write, or visit your elected representative with a draft bill in hand. These people work for you! If they don't do what you want - fire them! Make it clear that if they do not represent you, then you will have to find someone to run against them that does. Remember, Congressmen have to face re-election every two years (unlike Senators, which I will discuss in a later post).
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