Crony Capitalism
Repeal and Replace? No thanks. | Surgery Center of Oklahoma
Dr. Keith Smith
I’m all about repeal. But let’s not stop with Obamacare. Let’s move on to many disastrous legislative interventions brought to us from the other side of the aisle. How about Medicare Part D, brought to us by a GOP-led executive? Why didn’t the GOP change the tax code to end the discrimination against individual purchases of health insurance during the time they had all the power? Hint: see paragraph one of this blog. This tax reform isn’t likely as the shift away from employer-purchased plans will gut the scam of PPO repricing, a devastating blow to the big insurance companies.
Source: Repeal and Replace? No thanks. | Surgery Center of Oklahoma
Will Trumponomics Mean More Freedom and Prosperity? | International Liberty
Dan Mitchell
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?
Well, as I’ve already confessed, I don’t know what to expect. The biggest wild card, at least for fiscal policy, is whether he’ll be serious about the problem of government spending. Especially entitlements.
Source: Will Trumponomics Mean More Freedom and Prosperity? | International Liberty
Great Moments in Healthcare Consolidation: The Hospital is Having a Sale! | Robert Nelson, MD | Pulse | LinkedIn
What does the price of gasoline and the price of a chest x-ray have in common? Not much really, except the price of both have gone up in the Atlanta area recently; but the former did so for expected reasons that are predicated on behavioral economics and the relationship of demand to price. The latter went up, well, because it could.
But the sticker shock that I’ve experience lately trying to find a price on a simple chest X-ray is not due to any shortages (either perceived or real) or any sudden increase in demand. Nor was it from a sudden increase in the cost of performing an X-ray or some phenomenal increase in quality that created a better image or less radiation exposure. Nope, none of the usual factors that go into predicting price behavior were at play.
Have PPO Networks Perpetrated The Greatest Heist In American History?
One of the best pieces I’ve read that exposes the real cost drivers in healthcare. Many of us have been shouting from the rooftops that the “villains” we implicate are just symptoms of a more fundamental poison in that is embedded in our third-party billing system and the cartel-like system it has created. Thanks to Dave Chase for putting the pieces together so clearly. Given the realities exposed here, we can no longer implicate something that has been virtually wholly absent from the healthcare economy which could have prevented this generational theft: A free market.
The Sovereign Patient
Dave Chase – Forbes contributor
Mike Dendy: I hear the talking heads on business TV (like CNBC) talk about stagnation of incomes for the middle class. Wrong. The additional money is there every year, it’s just going into a pool to pay for healthcare instead of into the pockets of the employees in the form of salary increases.
Americans overpay for healthcare by at least 30% and likely 50% in aggregate. For all intents and purposes, every employer in America gives every covered member on their healthcare plan a blank check every year and says….consume all the healthcare you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want, and never be concerned with or ask the price because it’s all paid for. Deductibles and co-pays are irrelevant, especially to hospitals, because pricing is so high it becomes somewhat immaterial.
Trillions Have Been Redistributed from the American Workforce to the Healthcare Industry Creating An Economic Depression for the Middle Class The Washington Post and Vox have done excellent reporting that shows U.S. spends so much more than other countries for one simple reason — price. The good news is that some […]
Source: Have PPO Networks Perpetrated The Greatest Heist In American History?
EpiPen: A Case Study in what’s the Matter with Health Care | Health Policy Blog | NCPA.org
Its not what you might think. For those on both sides of the political argument on this, please read Devon Herrick’s article exposing some of the less well known reasons for the otherwise avoidable EpiPen fiasco, and why open markets and giving credit to consumers for having a brain could solve this; much the same way as making oral contraceptives OTC.
Americans throw away unused epinephrine auto-injectors worth more than $1 billion annually. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that Americans waste more
Source: EpiPen: A Case Study in what’s the Matter with Health Care | Health Policy Blog | NCPA.org
Hillary Clinton, Willie Sutton, and Class-Warfare Tax Policy | International Liberty
I don’t want to imply that there’s some moral equivalence between Hillary Clinton and Willie Sutton. Perish the thought!
After all, I’m sure Willie Sutton never expected gratitude from his victims.
If I had to summarize my views on fiscal policy in just two sentences, here’s what I would say.
- Government spending undermines growth by diverting labor and capital from more productive uses to less productive uses.
- Tax rates on productive economic behaviors such as work, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship should be as low as possible.
Since innovation, risk-taking, investment, entrepreneurship, and hard work are the keys to long-run growth, it certainly seems that the tax code shouldn’t be punishing those things.
She (Hillary) wants voters to adopt and us-vs-them mentality, so she demonizes successful people and implies that their wealth is somehow illegitimate.
In part, she is perpetuating the traditional leftist myth that the economy is a fixed pie and that the rest of us have less because someone like Bill Gates has more.
Source: Hillary Clinton, Willie Sutton, and Class-Warfare Tax Policy | International Liberty
