Monday, March 06, 2017
Congress is doing something right!
Reading the summary of the Romneycare reform. This is a rare instance of a Federal reform that actually SIMPLIFIES instead of adding more bells and whistles. They have removed the mandate and reshaped the Medicaid coverage. Separately, they allow tax deductions for individual coverage so it's on level ground with employer coverage. They aren't dismantling the idiotic "exchanges" yet, which is dumb.
Removing the mandate is the BIG step. Without the mandate, insurers return to their previous natural monopoly which was already bad. The forced monopoly of Romneycare was intolerably bad.
The presentation of the reform is also better. The Repoofs made a point of SHOWING THEIR FUCKING WORK. The text of the bill is available for anyone to read. I tried reading it and didn't get anywhere because it's basically an extended 'search and replace' edit. That's OK. People who know how to read such a document will be able to understand it. Dramatically different from the original Romneycare which wasn't even available for CONGRESS to read, let alone citizens.
There are several other Federal requirements, in place BEFORE Romneycare, that also need to be removed. Delete the HIPAA law entirely. Remove the requirement for electronic records, which added a monstrous workload to doctors with no benefit. Abolish the Centers For Dissident Control. Remove the NEMT rule. Reshape the incentives for lawsuits, through Loser Pays or something similar.
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Later, I made another stab at reading the document and dug up something interesting after all.
They didn't abolish the mandate, they only set the penalty to zero. Going without insurance is still nominally illegal. The IRS won't bother to bill you for zero dollars, but other agencies can still notice that you're illegal. For instance, Centers For Dissident Control could run a public health investigation on epidemic clusters of anti-insure vectors, to exterminate the terrorism before it spreads.
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Footnote for consistency: The correct approach is still Medicare For All. Obama could have done it in 2010 but chose to serve Goldman instead. Medicare For All could be implemented by a similar search-and-replace action in the Medicare law. Replace 65 by 0. Done.
They didn't abolish the mandate, they only set the penalty to zero. Going without insurance is still nominally illegal. The IRS won't bother to bill you for zero dollars, but other agencies can still notice that you're illegal. For instance, Centers For Dissident Control could run a public health investigation on epidemic clusters of anti-insure vectors, to exterminate the terrorism before it spreads.
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Footnote for consistency: The correct approach is still Medicare For All. Obama could have done it in 2010 but chose to serve Goldman instead. Medicare For All could be implemented by a similar search-and-replace action in the Medicare law. Replace 65 by 0. Done.Labels: Zero Problems
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