Tony Rubolotta

Economic Responsibility is Health Care Reform
August 13, 2009

If you had to personally pay for a mammogram, would you rather pay $325 or $168 assuming there is no qualitative difference? If you needed an anesthesiologist for a surgical procedure, would you rather pay $1,200 or $688, and it’s for the same anesthesiologist? If you required surgery to reduce a fractured elbow, would you rather pay operating room and hospital charges of $19,000 or $14,000 for the same facilities? For that matter, would you rather pay the surgeon $4,000 or $3,200? Of course, if you are not paying the cost, you probably don’t care at all.

Those are the differences in cost I found when dealing directly with medical service providers. In the case of the mammogram, some shopping was required but worth the few minutes it took to make the phone calls. As I explained to each provider that there were no insurance forms to complete, no hassle over the amount, no dispute over the deductible or co-pay, and no delays in making full payment, the prices came tumbling down, and why shouldn’t they? The providers’ administrative costs had been cut by eliminating the insurance company or government bureaucrat. There would be no loss of income due to the time value of uncollected money. There would be no delays over disputes arising from what was covered or not, and no disputes over deductibles.

In the case of the mammogram, the higher price, even though discounted for a cash payment, came from a well known hospital in suburban Chicago. The lower price came from a well known national clinic. Why such a huge difference in costs? The hospital must treat people who will never pay for services and are subsidized in part by higher fees to those who do pay. That hospital also has a number of overrated, overpaid Michele Obama types on the payroll making $350,000 a year for no other reason than their political connections or skills performing public relation scams.

Of course, I had some choices to make. Do I really want that plasma wide screen TV and new stereo speakers or do I want my wife’s fractured elbow treated? Do I really want to purchase a few more DVDs or should my wife have that mammogram? Those choices are part of the responsibility that comes with economic freedom. Unfortunately, a good number of my fellow citizens have decided they are willing to pay for their entertainment but not willing to pay for basic necessities, such as food, housing and medical services. They whine about the high cost of prescription drugs while pumping quarters into casino slot machines. They whine about the high cost of electricity and ask for government assistance while they fork out monthly payments for cable TV, internet service and cellular telephones. And if we don’t give in to their demands, we are stingy, greedy, fascists, Nazis, KKK racists and totally un-American, and I have that on the authority of Congressional Democrats.

I’m not suggesting everyone become self-insured for their health care as I have, but I am suggesting they assume more responsibility and stop feeding the pigs at the public trough. I am suggesting they repudiate their lawmakers, particularly in the state legislatures, that have made health insurance nothing like insurance at all but a crazy quilt of feel-good, politically correct and mandatory offerings that cost a fortune. It is not a free market when you tell vendors what they must sell and buyers what they must buy, whether they want it or not.

ObamaCare is not about health care reform but it is a major step toward a Soviet style planned economy, where geniuses like Obama and Pelosi decide how much of the GDP should be spent on health services. Where they spend it will be a matter of political expediency, to be determined by polls and unions. How they spend it will be through a massive federal bureaucracy designed to swell union membership, richly reward friends and relatives and increase dependency on government for a paycheck. When they spend it will be determined by the procedural behemoth they create to milk administrative costs in the name of “efficiency” and “accountability” and delay treatment to those considered a “burden” on the GDP. Why do we need ObamaCare? Because you are stupid and Obama and Pelosi are smart and see the “bigger picture”.

The cost of health care is probably of more concern to me than most Americans and I have done something about it. I have reduced my health care costs but have had to make some sacrifices as well. I’m not wealthy but I am prudent about my choices and how I value them. My wife has regained full use of her left arm and that is worth more to me than a plasma TV or new stereo speakers. Would I have preferred her treatment was free and paid for by someone else? Of course I would, except for this one little problem. It’s called theft and of the worse kind where someone else is compelled to work for what I want. That’s slavery. That’s Obama’s Soviet style planned economy and ObamaCare is the Trojan horse of that economy.