Responsibility
I got a comment that I didn't put up. The reason is that the email provided was noATthanks.com. The email wasn't spam but it was. I couldn't approve it because that lets all future post appear at once. I like that feature as the regular posters see their post at once. If I approve email addresses that are bogus, the system is compromised.
Here is his comment:
What do you mean by "If the government wanted to setup up something like the WF setup." How is different than the public option the GOP and their lobbyists oppose. Sound similar to me.
As an aside, the IP address captured was a static one out of Seattle that appears to be a union associated with Boeing. So, his attempt at true anonymity failed – at least to a degree.
It is a reasonable comment in the atmosphere of debate that is ongoing. And, I'd like to answer it. The program is often referred to as a form of MediCare. My guess is that this comparison is being used by the administration because it is a respected form of health insurance. Whether that is true remains locked in the Congress.
The form I was discussing is major medical. That is true insurance. It is like automobile in having a deductible. That is cost sharing. If you car didn't have that, you could be down at Earl Scheib every time a bit of gravel put a ding on the ol' wheels. That isn't the real use for insurance and such a policy would be very costly.
When I was young, health insurance was pretty cheap. When I went to Indiana University, I seem to recall it was $16/mo. That even included the infirmary where you could go with a sore throat and get a bottle of cough syrup with codeine. Lot of sore throats. You'd bop in and the attendant would reach under the counter and hand you a bottle. If you needed your appendix yanked, that was also included for that $16. Young adults are a healthy lot so $16 covered things. A doctor visit at the time was less than a ten-spot. (Pretty sure the infirmary is gone. Lawyers have seen to that kind of care going away.)
Now $10 wasn't quite the chump change that it is today. I'm not trying to compare costs here. I am comparing what was normal. Insurance had pretty good deductibles. You couldn't drag the rug rats in for every sniffle. If a kid broke his arm, he got it set and went back to have it taken off or maybe one extra visit. It came off without going to rehabilitation. All cost likely came out of the family budget.
If you buy a boat or ATV, you use it. Heath insurance without the deductible is the same. That is what I am saying and that is the issue the politicians are ignoring. Health care was relatively cheap in my youth. But, mothers treated a lot of the problems with a free talk with the local druggist. You went to the doctor when you were really sick. Little co-pays changed all that. We needed more doctors and health care workers. That ran the cost up and put us where we are today.
ADDENDUM:
I will get a poker post up today. Not a great one about how things are going. No deductible there either.
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