A Healthcare Solution

I put this modest proposal before our mad government who appears ready to spend us into oblivion with Obamacare. Save the $1 trillion plus (remember, Social Security and Medicare weren't suppose to cost too much either!) and instead implement this plan which probably won't cost the US government even $1 billion dollars. If you read my post "Healthcare for All?" you should understand that the government cannot lower the cost of anything, only the price. You also should understand that prices are brought about not by greedy CEOs, for competition among healthcare providers and the elasticity in demand mean that the price is only that amount where the minimum amount the healthcare provider is willing to charge for their services and the maximum amount the consumer is willing to pay for that service meet. Prices are determined by the market. They are controlled by supply and demand. When the demand for medical services increases, the price for that service increases. This is basic economics. Any economist, regardless of his or her political persuasion will tell you this. Thus rising healthcare prices are the result not of greed and price-gauging but high demand. I put forward that the reason American healthcare costs so much is that it costs a lot to keep Americans healthy! We are McDonaldnation. When the majority of American adults are obese and unhealthy they are going to require more medical attention for for things like lung cancer, skin cancer, and heart disease. Therefore, what I propose is that the government starts to offer incentives for American citizens to remain healthy. Every year Americans can go to their physcian and have a physical. There will be rankings from excellent health to average health to poor health. For every health level average and above, tax-payers can claim a deductable that correlates to their level of health for each member of the family. Thus, the government will give you incentive to keep healthy during the year. By eating healthier, eating less, excercising more, and refraining for smoking due to proper incentive, Americans will need to go doctors less (an apple a day keeps the doctors away!) and the demand for health with decrease and with it healthcare prices.

Time to Jump Ship?

I am sitting on my couch watching the Pirates game. The score is 7-3 Pirates. "Finally!" I say to myself. After an abysmal road trip that followed an mass exodus of Pirates talent for prospects, which left the offense impotent, the Pirates were in line for a tough win against the World Champion Phillies. It is the bottom of the 9th and as I sip my lemonade Matt Capps takes the mound. Anyone who has be around me while watching Pirates games knows my extreme dislike of Matt Capps. For a closer, he pitches far too many long balls as his favorite pitch, as far as I can tell, is a fast ball across the center of the plate. Yet over the past month Capps has been solid, not blowing a single save opportunity, although he has come dangerous close. Yet he has a four run lead, typically enough even for this pitcher with an ERA in the 6's. But Capps always has a way of surprising me by achieving all new levels of awefulnesses.

I proceeded to watch Capps give up a towering home run. OK, its just a solo, now we'll get out of it. Then Capps, with one out and a runner of first proving a double play opportunity, Capps decides to be his usual self and totally ignore every base runner. It is a stolen base without contention. No double play. Ryan Howard is at the plate. All he needs is a homerun now to tie the game 7-7. Surely such a feat is extremely improbable! Yet with one swing of the bat the improbably becomes a reality has Howard hits a fly ball that is gone. Ok 7-7. No base runners, 1 out. Let's finish this and get to extra innings. Oh but Matt Capps is truly ready to outdo himself. Now common sense would tell you to pull Capps out of the game. Yet John Russell decides to place continued trust in his closer and let him continue. Next thing I know the bases are loaded, still 1 out. Then comes a walk off hit to win the game. I sit stunned. A five run inning in the bottom of the ninth. I send a text to my friend "Why do I still watch these games...." And its true. Being a Pirates fan means being a glutton for pain. Yet as St. Paul says, suffering produces peserverence. Perhaps by keeping the virtue of faith and suffering I home to further my sanctification.

Now this is another blog about why the Pirates suck. No, no. I have vented my anger enough. Before us today is a very, very important question: Is it time to abandon the Pirate ship? Or should I go down with the ship? The decision to forsake your fandom is a very serious one. It's even harder when the team is your hometown team that you have cheered for since youth. For awhile now it is no secret that I have cheered for the Red Sox come October. I love the city of Boston (yes, I loathe the Patriots BUT they are technically from Foxborough) and I despise the Yankees. Below are a series of pros and cons for jumping ship. Please read them carefully and everyone who reads this blog, comment and tell me your opinion.

Pros for ceasing to be a Pirates Fans
1. Its not bad luck that makes the Pirates an aweful team. It's sheer incompetence. We aren't talking about the Cubs or pre-2003 Boston. We're talking about a team that has successfully managed to destroy itself from within over the past 17 years. Does that team deserve support?
2. When you love something, sometimes you have to let it go. As long as the Pirates continue to sell tickets to PNC Park and make lots of $$$ management simply doesn't give a damn about the team's record. By continuing to give unquestionably blind and loyal support I only further the apathy that the front office has. Only when they have to win will the Pirates actually win.
3. I love baseball. When you love a sport its fulfilling to actually enjoy the thrill of the playoffs. Yet as a Pirates fan my season always ends with September. Its like loving cake, but never getting the icing.

Cons Against jumping ship.
1. Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens. OK the Pirates don't deserve my support but maye I should still stick it out. I am a Pittsburgh native and a Pittsburgh sports fan I ought to remain. Don't be one of those "bandwagon" fans (Cowboys, Yankees).
2. If I jump ship now, the taste of victory (if it ever comes) will not be as sweet. If they win when I am 70 years old I won't be able to tell my grandchildren through tears how I kept faith in the Pirates through all these years and have finally been vindicated.
3. I love baseball. Since baseball does not have the good sense to be as nationally televized as football I can maybe watch 2 games a week on ESPN if I'm lucky. And out of that two a week every week maybe a dozen will be Red Sox games (providing they remain successful). The best place to find baseball fulfillment is at PNC Park. If I cheer for any other team I can say goodbye to watching my team play in their ballpark. I may be watching the Pirates suck but at least I'm watching them!

With Healthcare for All? Part II

4. There is no such thing as a Free Lunch. It is also very misleading to call government-funded healthcare "free." As already noted, government can reduce the price of a good or service with price controls but never their cost. Whenever the government plans on doing anything that involves the public treasury, it is good to remember that the treasury is supplied by the public. The government does not generate its own wealth but must levy taxes in order to pay for its expenses. This includes healthcare. In reality, free healthcare is not free but is paid for by citizens who are supposedly receiving hand-out! Initial estimates are that the healthcare bill will cost 1.6 trillion over 10 years, or $5,333 a person! This means (if the price was spread evenly)that if you pay less than $5,333 a year in medical expenses, the cost of your healthcare will actually go up. Of course the price is not spread evenly. Some will get this healthcare for nothing while others will pay very little. Yet still the healthcare is not free, those people who save money with government healthcare are only forcing their fellow citizens to pay for it. Government-funded healthcare is a misnomer. It should be called fellow citizen-funded healthcare. Of course, most will reply that it is the rich with "disposable income" who will be funding the majority of the healthcare. Yet, why is it fair that the wealthy should pay a greater percentage of their income than the poor? What evil have those wealthy who have earned their money by honest means done to society? Often the evil rich are the doctors who keep us healthy, the surgeons who save lives on the operating table, the entrepreneur who makes our lives easier by finding a more efficient way to bring us goods and services, the inventor who improves the quality of life, the scientist who cures a disease, the businessman who employs us, etc. One of America's most basic principles is the equality of all people. We violate this equality when we force on one group a greater proportion of income tax. Going back to incentives, when we tax the doctors, inventors, and businessmen too heavily, we reduce the incentive of doing their jobs. The high incomes paid to doctors compensates them for all the medical school they went through and in the same manner the businessman is compensated for climbing his way up the corporate ladder, spending less time with family and friends, and working late hours. If we tax these people and their businesses too heavily, it shouldn't suprise us if we wake up the next day to find less of them. Therefore, free healthcare is not free but comes at the expense of fellow citizens and other sectors of the economy. With a population of 300 million and price tag of $1.6 trillion, a government funded healthcare system is more weight than our economy can bear.

6. Worst, worse, better, and best. The greatest problem we have is when we make comparisons we make them as black and white. In reality, we are oftne comparing apples to oranges. While other countries are not sent into abominable poverty and poor coverage by their haelthcare systems, we must remember that this does not imply the success of the system. Healthcare and the economy may have improved, but if there was no government healthcare system, it may be improved even more. Also take into mind the very poor health of Americans. Obesity is higher in this country than in Europe. Some speculate that the growing obesity in this country is the reason why the price of healthcare is soaring. Therefore, if American's health is failing, don't always blame the healthcare companies. The best way to improve American healthcare is not with government intervention but with a more healthy lifestyle by Americans.