Real Health Care Reform

The average cost to get a prescription drug approved by the FDA: $403 million (in 2002). The average length of time for drug approval: 8.5 years. | Continue reading this entry »

The bronze plans that will be available are not low-cost stripped down plans. | Continue reading this entry »

I doubt if too many people in the know are surprised that the CBO has released a report showing that the new health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is going to cost at least $115 billion more over the next 10 years than they estimated before it was passed. So the total estimated cost is now well over $1 trillion, and I have no doubt that we'll see real costs far exceed that. In order to come up with numbers below $1 trillion when trying to pass the original bill, lawmakers | Continue reading this entry »

When Medicare was first enacted in 1965, men had an average life expectancy of almost 70 years. So the average guy received Medicare benefits for 5 years. Now the average male lives to be about 75, and the average guy receives benefits for twice as long. In January of last year, the first babyboomers started retiring. This massive wave of retirees will start receiving Medicare benefits, and be spending so much that Medicare trustees predict funds will run out in 2019. At the same time, | Continue reading this entry »

Learn how your HSA-qualified plan must be effective no later than December 1st in order to qualify for a 2009 tax deductible HSA contribution (which could reduce your April 15th taxes by $1900 or more!). | Continue reading this entry »

The Congressional rush continues towards a reckless takeover of healthcare. Nancy Pelosi is hoping to schedule a vote for tomorrow at 6 pm. It is certain that she will get zero Republican votes, and uncertain whether she has the Democrat votes she needs. Those who support this bill and claim to be for more competition, are really against allowing true competition by enabling people to choose the type of health coverage they want, and purchase across state lines. Instead of legislation which | Continue reading this entry »

On Friday I called my Congressional representative Betsy Markey. I wasn't able to speak directly to her, but I did get a call back from her representative, and we had a nice long talk. The main thing we talked about how was much the premiums will go up on our customers, and her constituents, if this healthcare reform passes. (That's looking like a bigger "IF" than ever, by the way). When it happens, it will be easy to look back in history and see where this has occurred before. In the late | Continue reading this entry »

Will Health Savings Accounts be part of the future healthcare bill? Well, its starting to look questionable whether anything will even pass, but if so, here’s where things stand with Health Savings Accounts: | Continue reading this entry »

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has now announced that the health care legislation he is drafting will include a government-run health insurance plan, or so-called “public option”. At least the most liberal of the liberals out there are being honest about this, and are for it because it will lead to a single-payer system. But most of the Democrats that support this are saying its purpose is to “increase competition” and “keep the insurance companies honest.” Politicians saying | Continue reading this entry »

One of the ways Congress plans to change health insurance is to interfere with market pricing based on sex. Anytime government gets involved in the pricing of privately sold goods and services there are some unintended consequences. In this video I talk about what some of those are. | Continue reading this entry »