Upcoming Debt Disaster?

                  

Under the Maastricht Treaty, leading to the European monetary union, budget deficits were limited to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and total debt was restricted to 60% of GDP.

                       

However,Greece consistently cheated. France and Germany and others also broke the Treaty agreement in this regard.

                       

Ben Bernanke, the past head of the Federal Reserve Bank in the U. S., had said that total debt of 2% and 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) is sustainable, but we are now past that level. (The extraordinary Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae debt are not even in the federal budget.)

                       

So why are we not headed down the same road to disaster as is Europe (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Supply and Demand of Health Care

                   

To make health coverage cheaper without government, increase coverage supply to meet demand and be alert.

                       

Add the number of patients but add more doctors. Developing disincentives for doctors to practice family medicine, will not make medicine cheaper and more available. You cannot legislate lower income for doctors and have more MDs in the system.

                       

Driving out of business over 1,500 competing private insurance companies with onerous mandates will not reduce costs. Have insurance companies compete over state lines, which they presently are not permitted to do. That will attract competition.

                       

And, rationing of benefits under the guise of “suggesting” treatments that doctors ought to give, is not a proper way to reduce demand to meet supply. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Tort Reform For Lower Health Costs

                  

Political bias in health insurance is highly evident; ObamaCare is guilty of it. It explains why tort reform was never a part of legislation.

                       

Even though the government will tell the doctor how to practice, he or she could still be sued for malpractice. All that’s needed is a cap on lawsuits.

                       

At least 25% of medical costs are for defensive medicine. Yet, impartial arbitration panels could determine whether patients have been harmed, and how, and for how much they ought to be compensated. Without lawyer imagination, subterfuge and costs. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Small Business Taxes and ObamaCare

             

Employers must insure employees under ObamaCare; those who don’t offer coverage will pay a penalty.

                                           

Labor is a major cost for most small, non-manufacturing businesses, The net, bottom profit line often does not exceed 5% or 10%. With an added health tax, many entrepreneurs who would love to insure employees when they want to attract them, are not able to afford their employment. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Government Supermarkets Also?

                 

ObamaCare in its present form, despite what the administration has said. will not force the 1500 or so private health insurance companies become more competitive. All it had to do would be to make it possible for companies to compete across state lines. ObamaCare did not call for it.

                       

But if the government presence could make health insurance more competitive, why not a government supermarket chain to cut prices? Or a government clothing chain? That is what Russian consumers “enjoyed” under the Soviet Union. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Truth-in-Advertising at Colleges

                  

I have noted before the lack of balance in colleges with regard to the world political and cultural view of campus teachers.

                       

One-sided views negate the purpose of going to college for a broad education. The minutiae that are relegated to memory are soon forgotten. But the ability to reason and think ought to be the prime college education goal.

                       

The remedy is simple: Publish the resumes, including commentaries of all professors and full time instructors, along with the rest of the routine material that colleges use to entice prospective students.

                       

Have teachers and professors comment on their ideas about recent Supreme Court decisions on business, finance and other pertinent topics.

                       

Moreover, schools ought to be responsible for the relative accuracy of such statements made to recruit students.

                                   

In short: Truth in advertising laws should apply to college recruiting. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Government Type of Health Care

                 

Over three-quarters of Canadians must wait up to three months for an MRI under government-operated health care.

                       

Almost 15% of patients in Great Britain must wait more than one year to receive treatment, after they have been referred to a specialist by a doctor. As much as 50% of patients getting government care must wait between 18 to 52 weeks for treatment.

                       

You can imagine how their governments put patient teeth at the bottom of the preference list when they must cut costs.

                       

More than 75% of National Healthcare Service British patients waited four or more weeks for admittance into a hospital.

                       

The average survival rate for all types of cancer for patients in the United States is 60%. Canada’s survival rate is at 55%; Europe’s is at 48%. About 80% survive prostate cancer diagnosis in the U.S. , as compared to about 43% in the U.K., under their nationalized service.

                                           

The media tends to overlook such facts and continue to spout health care propaganda without much analysis. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)