Massachusetts Annexed by Europe

In today's news - Hillary Clinton makes love to the insurance lobby, Masschussets was annexed by Europe and nobody noticed, and Mitt Romney is a pot.

Health insurance and health care are expensive and not readily available to too many people. We all know this. Republicans try to ignore the problem by pandering to their insurance company donors and blaming "trial lawyers." The (mistaken) theory goes that trial lawyers and their gigantic fees from their frivolous lawsuits (you know, the ones that prevent gynocologists from practicing their love with women?) so run up the cost of medical care that, if only we could put a halt to those persnickity lawyers, medical care would be cheap and plentiful.

Nevermind that lawsuits (and verdicts) are trending down and that insurance companies are making record profits. Also nevermind that insurance companies don't make money by paying claims. Just stop the lawyers. (And, while you're at it, make sure that injured people quit suing, pick up their severed limbs, and get back to work - shiftless lazy good-for-nothings).

Meanwhile, the Democrats want to solve the problem by turning it over to the government. You know, the govenment that fabricated a war, created a Nazi-sounding "Homeland Security" department that doesn't actually do anything, and cannot repair just one major city that was flooded a couple years ago. Yet they can somehow effectively manage my health care.

Today, Hillary Clinton (D-NY), a Democratic candidate for President, unveiled her new health care proposal to much fanfare. Unfortunately, it's not new. Rather, she stole it from Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, who created a virtually identical plan in his state.

The Romney Plan, which went into effect July 1, 2007, requires all residents to have health insurance. If they do not, and cannot obtain a waiver, then in the first year they will be penalized by losing their individual deduction on their state tax returns. In subsequent years, they will be penalized on their taxes at one-half the lowest cost of available insurance.

What a great idea. Rather than face the insurance companies and their bullshit underwriting practices or their denial of coverage scams, and rather than face the medical lobby and their hyper-inflated charges (allowed only because the insurance companies will pay them), how much more convenient to simply penalize poor people for not buying insurance they already can't afford. So now the working poor, people with low-wage jobs and no health care, who can barely make ends meet as it is, must now pony up their non-existent cash to pay for health insurance instead of food, housing, utilities, gas, etc. Brilliant.

Hillary's plan appears to be identical, making health insurance mandatory. Her people try to equate it with states making automobile insurance mandatory. Big difference here - I don't HAVE to drive a car. I sort of HAVE to continue to breathe. Driving a car is a privilege, not a right. Staying alive is, I'm pretty certain, a right (although I suspect some folk such as Bill O'Reilly would suggest it is only a privilege).

Moreover, what if I don't want health insurance? What if I so hate the insurance companies that I do not ever want to see them get a dime? What if I don't believe in traditional medicine? Why should I have to have insurance that pays for treatment I don't want and would never seek? What if I just flat out don't like being told what to do? It's my money, dammit, and if I want to spend it on beer and potato chips instead of blood pressure medication, then that's what I'm gonna do.

Worse, the Clinton plan would, as I understand, prohibit insurers from assessing higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. That's just stupid. Now, I'm no fan of insurance companies - I downright loathe them. But they do have a place and they have to be able to run their business in a reasonable fashion. People with pre-existing conditions are going to cost more to treat - consequently it should cost more to insure them. Insurance is based on risk - a healthy person is cheaper because there is less risk of paying out a claim. Sick people are more expensive because there is more risk of paying out a claim. Duh. But if the insurance company cannot charge more for people who will cost more, then they will simply charge more for everybody.

Remember, insurance is not a public service - it is a for-profit business that makes money via taking premiums and investing them, then retaining the return on those investments. When they pay claims, they lose both their investing power and some of their return, which means they and their shareholders make less money. Because their incentive is to make a profit, not protect your health, they will act in a manner to maximize profits.

And now Clinton is playing right into their hands. Imagine a world where the government mandates that the public buy your product, whether they want to or not. The ironic part is that the large-scale implementation of this fiasco is being proposed by a Democrat and not a Republican. Apparently not all insurance company investments generate the expected returns after all.

But let me get to the best part - the killer funny twist of this whole mess. Romney, who created this very program when he was Governor of Massachussets, calls the Clinton plan something inspired by "European bureaucracies."

"Instead we should take our inspiration from the American people. Hers is a plan which I think underscores the fact that she fundamentally does not believe in markets and in the states. And I believe that our inspiration should come from American families."

My score - Mitt=Pot, Hillary=Kettle, Massachussets=France, Insurance Industry=$$$$$$, American Working Family=Anally Raped (and without insurance to pay for the treatment).