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To @AlexanderBuxton's comment, "The US population is growing, so we shouldn't have that problem for years to come...."

Let's see, if we banned abortion in general, in about 20 years we'd have a LOT more people in the workforce to keep paying for the elderly, and we'd have solved the problem more-or-less permanently rather than only "for years to come."  Why even risk the shinking of our population? Let it flourish!  Of course we'll have to all learn to be less consumeristic and greedy along the way, and change our disposable society to a steady state economy (http://www.steadystate.org/) in order for the planet to sustain us....but that's another issue, isn't it? And just as important too I think.

posted 3 years, 8 months ago
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This is what Kerry Barnett from BCBS was driving at, when he said that we should not force people to have health insurance. The point about car vs health insurance is that car insurance is almost invariably to protect yourself from others and protect others from yourself, because a car can be a dangerous hazard. But your personal health does not impact others quite the same, except for perhaps communicable diseases (which are easily controlled).  If you have a heart attack, that is not going to cause someone else to have one. So forcing people to have coverage for their bodies does not serve any real purpose except to keep their own medical costs down at the expense of everyone else.  It would be better to force people to eat right and exercise more, perhaps by banning High Fructose Corn Syrup and preservatives, and giving tax credits for walking more than 2 miles to work, etc. These are things that would drive health care cost down by improvements to the general health of society, thereby making healthcare affordable for everyone.  The point is clear: like cars and TVs, pretty much everyone will buy something once it becomes affordable.

posted 3 years, 8 months ago
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@lynsky:

"I don't look at being alive as a privileage that just happens to be chance that we are all here."

Your comment doesn't make any sense. I don't believe we're here by chance either...but I certainly do believe that life is a privilege. How can it not be?  Anyone born nowadays has been privileged to live and not get aborted. Life is not a right, which we can expect or demand...it is a gift from God and your parents, and every breath is a gift and therefore a privilege not a right. Do you demand that Nature overlook itself and require us all to live to be 120? Or longer? Do we have a right to expect doctors to keep us alive as absolutely long as possible, regardless of the cost? Everyone dies.....if Life was a right then we would all be living forever already.

Now lets be clear...we do have a right to *live* the life we are given....and to that point health care should be available for all to help us *live well*. In that case, wellness programs, lifestyle reform and an overhaul of the American diet/food system is probably the most important part of health care; these factors can simultaneously help people live better lives and prevent them from visiting the doctor so often, driving health care costs down.  THIS is the real reform that BCBS is after...just check out myregence.com and see. 

posted 3 years, 8 months ago
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