In general, I’m pretty happy with capitalism. I like the free market, I like it when people are able to make a nice living selling things that we all want to buy. I don’t even have a problem (well, at least much of one) with people who sell things that NONE of us need or want to buy. More power to them, as long as they’re not conning people out of their pensions or making bogus medical claims that keep people from seeking real treatment.
But, like I say, in general, I support capitalism.
Here comes the exception.
When a free market system for a particular service, after many years of change and practice, evolves into a system that provides no real service to the consumer and seems to exist for no other purpose than taking our money, it’s time for that system to go away. Let the government step in and take over, for our protection. That’s why it’s there, to protect us as a whole, when we can’t do it on our own.
The health insurance system is just such a mess. They have turned into nothing more than a monetary middleman, skimming profits off the top and doing everything they can to not pay for treatments when they are needed.
Greed, it seems, is a pre-existing condition.
The figures I’ve seen show that 30% of the cost of health care in this country goes to the insurance companies, for doing, essentially, nothing. Medicare, by contrast, has an overhead of 3%.
You see where this is going?
If I’m going to pay for health care (and we’re all going to pay for health care, one way or another), I’d rather do it through my taxes, with lower overhead, knowing that whatever I pay in is at least going into the actual health care system and not into the pocket of some insurance executive.
Just my two cents…
