Health Care, Who Needs It?
Research for Online Investors

by John Dalt

6/19/09

The Nationalized Health Care debate continues in Washington and in many communities across America.  Many well meaning people seem willing to accept a little socialism, if it means helping a wide swath of the citizenry obtain a basic human right.  Socialist politicians recognize a wedge issue to grant a new entitlement to a segment of the population, thereby cementing their political support for generations.

Is health care a basic human right?  The Declaration of Independence proclaims that, “all Men…are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights…Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.””, it seems strange to ask government to give me something already granted, by a higher power.  The government cannot restrict or take this right away.

Most of the political arguments refer to 50 million Americans that do not have health insurance.  The cynic requires accurate numbers from a more reliable source than a pol on TV.

According to the 2005 Census, the total number of uninsured people in America counts 46.577 million.  9.487 million are NOT LEGAL citizens and 8.3 million made $50,000 to $74,999 per year and chose not to buy insurance.  An additional 8.74 million make over $75,000 per year and do not buy insurance.

Among uninsured that own their own home, 60% reported excellent or very good health.  Median household income in 2005 was $46,326 so 17.04 million can afford insurance, but chose not to buy it!  That is 36.5% of total uninsured.

Of the remaining 20.05 million without health insurance, 45% will have insurance again within four months, because of job changes, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  Therefore, government figures place the “problem” at a high of 11.0275 million.  The liberal Kaiser Health foundation finds that “chronically uninsured” account for 8.2 million.  If we split the difference between these two authoritative sources, we end up with 9.73 million, or 3.4% of American Citizens.

The Census Bureau believes that their methodology actually underreported the number of people that have insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid.  There may not be as many uninsured as their published numbers.

If you would like more information on the uninsured problem in America, Business and Media published “Health Care Lie”

After all the math, we end at the truth; one-half of the uninsured problem in the U.S. is illegal aliens!  The question naturally must be asked, “What about the 9.487 million illegal aliens that may seek health care, but have no insurance?”  This is a difficult issue.

Why not stabilize them, out of humanity, and call INS? The government can offer a free ticket to their county’s nationalized health system. We could call it “Compassionate Crisis Transfer” or CCT for short.

Require a personal mandate for health insurance.  Provide a tax deduction for qualifying plans.  Include a penalty for those that don't purchase insurance on themselves and dependents.  Remove all health care benefit programs from company's expenses.  All of our manufactured goods would cost less.  Widgets in stores would cost less, as well as EVERYTHING WE EXPORT.  When individuals pay for their own insurance, health care costs will go down!  We would all pay attention to doctor and hospital bills.

Alan Stanford made his appearance in Virginia Federal Court today facing 21 charges.  Sanford remains in custody.  In better times, Stanford financial sold high interest certificates of deposit, and was at the top of the world.  It seems not all of the money made it to the bank.  He is accused of running a $7 billion ponzi scheme.  The Financial Times and the New York Times have articles on the case.

Glory days, when money was easy!

Quotes of the Day:
----You cannot help the poor by destoying the rich.
----You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could an should be doing for themselves.
------------William Boetchker--1916

---Thou shalt not Covet.
-----------still our favorite author!

The information presented in this newsletter is based on generally available news releases, corporate filings, current events, interviews and the editor’s opinions.  It may contain errors and you should not make investment decisions based solely on what you believe you have read here.  Do your own research, it is your money.  If you lose it, it is your responsibility, not ours or your grandmothers!  The editor may or may not have a position in any securities discussed.  The editor may have held a position in a security earlier, or in the future.

MarketToday Home Page

Back to Top