The old aphorism is true, leopards don’t change their spots!
For these three entities that oppose the new HHS price transparency rules, and for many others to be sure, there is no incentive to hold down healthcare care costs. In fact, the incentives of the current system of healthcare financing are such that it’s in their favor for prices to always go up.
In all cases, whether it be a percentage of claim cost, percentage of premium or percent of discount margin, these same price-hiding crony pals continue to benefit financially when the price of medical care rises.
Some believe the Individual Market is too weak to revive, given the hit it took as as result of the ACA.
I am optimistic that this ruling to utilize HRA is this manner will be a “shot in the arm” and revitalize the market again.
This article below highlights the benefits of a defined contribution approach as a means to purchase health insurance. Anything that makes us less dependent on ESI and gives more portability & options, freeing the labor market from job-lock is a good thing. – Forum for Healthcare Freedom
Avek Roy
“Last week, the White House finalized a rule that allows employers to fund health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) that can be used by workers to buy their own coverage on the individual market. This subtle, technical tweak has the potential to revolutionize the private health insurance market…
…The council found an elegant way to give employers the opportunity to voluntarily convert their health benefits from a defined benefit into a defined contribution. For example, an employer could fund an HRA for each worker and their family, which they could then use to shop for a plan that best suits their needs.”
“This 124-page document challenges a premise behind 50 years of thinking in health policy circles: that our most serious problems in health care arise because of flaws in the private sector. Most problems arise because of government failure, not market failure, the document declares, and it goes into great detail on how to correct the policy errors.
Trump policy toward health care appears to be based on the idea of promoting choice, competition, and the role of market prices. In Medicare, so far that means liberating telemedicine and accountable care organizations (ACOs), ending payment incentives that are driving doctors to become hospital employees, promoting hospital price transparency, reducing regulatory paperwork, and creating more transparency in the market for prescription drugs.”
Hats off to John C. Goodman again! His work in leading the effort for market-based healthcare reform over the past 4 decades, and highlighting the government’s role in the dysfunctional mess we labor in, is second to none.
This Forbes article lays out a most concise and accurate rendering of what healthcare has become and why…and what to do about it.
If you’re tired of the hearing healthcare pundits wax feverishly about their favorite villains and how more regulations are the answer; or if you’re just a novice starting to explore the Healthcare conundrum, Dr. Goodman’s work is required reading. I recommend starting here and then circling back to some of his earlier work. The book “PRICELESS” is a recommended next step!
From an economic perspective, it certainly is true that this new system is “disorganized” and “a disservice” and an “insult to our intelligence.” Those same words could be used to describe the welfare state, the EEOC, farm subsidies, the tax code, and just about everything else the government does.
But there’s one group of people who are laughing all the way to the bank, The lobbyists, consultants, fixers, and other denizens of the swamp are getting rich. Whether they’re preparing the applications, lobbying for the applications, or lobbying against the applications, they are getting big paychecks.
And the longer this sordid protectionist process continues, we will see a repeat of what happened with Obamacare as senior-level people in government move through the revolving door so they can get lucrative contracts to help clients manipulate the system (yes, Republicans can be just as sleazy as Democrats).
I very much suspect Obama partisans and Trump partisans won’t like this column, but the sad reality is that both Obamacare and Trump’s protectionism have a lot in common.
In both cases, government is limiting the freedom of buyers and sellers to engage in unfettered exchange.
In both cases, the fiscal burden of government increases.
In both cases, politicians misuse statistics to expand the size and scope of government.
Today, let’s add another item to that list.
In both cases, the Washington swamp wins thanks to increased cronyism and corruption.
To see what I mean, let’s travel back in time to 2011. I wrote a column about Obamacare and cited some very persuasive arguments by Tim Carney that government-run healthcare (or, to be more accurate, expanded government control of healthcare) was creating a feeding frenzy for additional sleaze in Washington.
Congress imposes mandates on other entities, but gives bureaucrats the…
I was sitting directly under a television in a Caribbean airport yesterday when Trump got inaugurated, so I inadvertently heard his speech.
The bad news is that Trump didn’t say much about liberty or the Constitution. And, unlike Reagan, he certainly didn’t have much to say about shrinking the size and scope of Washington.
On the other hand, he excoriated Washington insiders for lining their pockets at the expense of the overall nation. And if he’s serious about curtailing sleaze in DC, the only solution is smaller government.
But is that what Trump really believes? Does he intend to move policy in the right direction?
“A couple details need fixed, but Tom Price’s plan and the Cassidy-Sessions Plan are on the right track. This is an important article that anyone should read who really wants to understand the economic issues AND the political issues surrounding healthcare reform as it related to repealing and replacing ObamaCare.” – R. Nelson, MD
Price is of the view that we are going to end up subsidizing the health care of the poor and the indigent one way or the other. We can do it through cost shifting and subsidies conferred on impersonal hospital bureaucracies or we can give the money to the people and let the bureaucracies compete for their patronage. The Price tax credit would be refundable and it would vary by age. But unlike the Obamacare credits, Price’s credit would be the same, regardless of income.” – a quote by John C. Goodman, author of the article in Forbes below.
Elevators close on Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., as he arrives at Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) There are two things you need to know about Congressman Tom Price’s views on health policy : he believes in universal coverage and he believes in tax credits. Why […]
Our Rights come from God, not government. Physician/ Patient/ Survivor/ Wife/ Mother of 4 daughters/ Small biz owner/ Limited Government/ No Socialized Medicine/ Texan/ President www.AAPSonline.org
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