The U.S healthcare fiasco

If you consider monopolies a free market.

 

yes. Premiums are based on claims history in a particular area. How does it make sense to live in the highest claim frequency zone, but purchase a policy with premiums based on the lowest claim frequency zone?

 

Medicare has been vilified by its detractors as "socialized medicine", but it is much more cost-effective, and in the 3 years I have had it, I have not encountered ANY of the predicted disadvantages.

 

No, it is nothing like an IOU. Research the characteristics of IOUs. U.S. Treasuries are recognized around the world as the safest of investments. Pension funds, managed investment funds, financial planners, chartered financial consultants and wealthy individual investors trust them as the safest way to protect principle and to earn interest. But I have often asked those who criticize the Treasuries in the Trust Funds as "IOUs" to suggest an alternative investment that would be better. No one has offered such an investment, so I ask you for your alternative.

That is neither the responsibility nor legal concern of the Medicare system nor the Trust Fund. Once the taxpayer revenue is invested in Treasuries, the investment is complete and the use of the money received by the government is then the responsibility of only the government including the question of how to repay it. And the government has a system for such redemption and it does not change the national debt nor does it require taxpayers to face added expense. An equal value of Treasury bills are sold in the open market, mostly to foreign investors at times, in order to raise money to redeem the Trust Fund Treasuries. This keeps the debt as it was and simply moves the obligation from one owed to the Trust Fund to one owed to individuals. So the question is then more clearly how that debt to individuals will be paid off one day but the Trust Fund is no longer owed for that debt.

The characterization of the Treasuries as an "IOU" is always and only a right wing disinformation strategy. There is no similarity to IOUs which are also recognized by law. Look into it and stop acting as a mouthpiece for right wing distortions and propaganda.

 

When you say 'they cannot', who is stopping them from offering insurance with approved providers in other states?

 

Note I said "they cannot logistically". That means they are stopping themselves. Call United healthcare and ask them.

 

They do have a PPO product for those insurance companies that sell in multiple states in all those states so it is not a problem.

 

Then why don't they do it? If it is a law, quote the law.

BTW lynnlynn, please acknowledge your error regarding "IOUs".

 

The point I am trying to make is they are selling across state lines, just not all of them. If you have insurance now like United Healthcare, Aetna, etc. look at the back of the card where it says to mail claims, if the address is another state than where you live, they are selling across state lines.

I still think treasury notes are IOU's. Medicare and Social security funds have always run a surplus each year so no need to cash in those treasury notes. When they take the surplus each year they put in a treasury note which is applied as governmental debt (gov't owing the public).