My Personal (i.e., 1 Percent) Health Care Rant!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013 Yes, I knew this day was coming, but I dont have to like it or its impact on my wallet! Its the new Health Insurance Marketplace or i.e., Insurance Company Gotcha Suckers Sick-care System! First, let me qualify everything Im about to get off my chest by saying that Im probably a very small minority ... not obese (30+% population), overweight (2/3+ population), or inclined to eat fast/processed food 95+% population). I derive the latter by taking a simple penetration (roughly 4%) of the organic food industries share of total food sales. So take that 4% and factor in my age, personal responsibility values, and a few other secret ingredients, and Id say Im in the 1 Percent category! Whoopee! Then why should I rant you say! Here it is, straight up without any sugar coating (you know that stuff everyone seems addicted too!). My <1% ass subsidizes the 99% ... a majority of which are irresponsible and so undisciplined that nothing (especially our current system) will change their behavior or lifestyle for the better. Maybe were all victims ... a society that values short-term comfort in lieu of the long term solutions or personal responsibility! Lets say that a hypothetical 2/3 of our medical cost were resulting from preventable conditions (e.g., type 2 diabetes which are driven by obesity). Preventable conditions drive (even demand) a delivery system of specialist, equipment, drugs, hospital beds, outpatient services, etc., etc., and the consequence (i.e., irresponsible behavior) drives our prot driven system to increase supply to meet this growing demand. Hows this going to change (for the better) any time soon? The aging unhealthy trend is growing (as percentage of the population) and its a huge headwind to overcome. Like climate change, at some point we reach a tipping point ... beyond which its essentially to late to x the damage! Oh, but we have insurance through employment, medicare, the marketplace, etc., and irresponsibles think (?) all is well either oblivious or ignorant of the fact that their behavior has consequences, as it drives up the cost of everything for everybody! Prior to the new Affordable Care Act, I could get a catastrophic type plan for around $70/ mo ... now, the cheapest plan available is $574/mo. Both plans provide for an annual physical, so the difference is a $20,000 vs. $5500 deductible. Since retiring early and not having employer paid benets, my out-of-pocket difference for the last 15 years would be around $90,000. Not an insignicant amount to the 99% ... you know, those occupy Wall Street folks. In my case, out-of-pocket cost for occasional aspirin/ibuprofen pretty much sums up my interaction with our broken health care system. I will concede that good luck and genes have played a role, but wait ... I should get credit for hard work too! Yes, rigorous exercise daily, tracking food intake, eating fresh while eliminating fast/processed food, and making and sticking to a budget takes work and discipline. Maybe you could go as far as saying a LOT of work and discipline! The net result (or benet) is $90,000 in my pocket, and not in the pocket of a greedy, prot-driven sick-care system.

My Personal (i.e., 1 Percent) Health Care Rant!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013 Ok, but Im a pretty good Democrat (except maybe I take personal responsibility pretty seriously) and what about the need to get healthy people in the system to help pay for the millions that have preventable conditions! My rant isnt about just an insurance problem. How 'bout doctors who just want to prescribe, not prevent, or drug company's that push pills to cure aliments they invented, or hospitals that charge $25 for a bottle of aspirin, or lawyers that chase ambulances, or lobbyist that lobby for corporate prots and greed, or individuals who don't take personal responsibility for their health ... just give me that junk food, cigarette, couch, and of course, a pill for my diabetes, cholesterol, and pain in my ass! Yes, the new law has preventative measures (i.e., annual physicals, mammograms, etc.), but is that really enough to x a completely broken system that is largely driven by prots and greed! Just look at the fraud in Medicare ... we havent even come close to xing xable things! Maybe if our health insurance were more like car insurance safe drivers with a clean long term record can get really cheap affordable coverage people who have been irresponsible (e.g., DWI's, revoked license, accidents, vehicular manslaughter, on an on) would have to 'pay through the nose' assuming they were even able to get insurance. When gasoline goes over $4 or $5 a gallon people are furious and complain as if its their God given right to have cheap gas, but guess what, sales of gas guzzlers drop like a rock! Yes, when stop on red cameras send you a ne for $260 and the video proof, next time you probably at least actually think about stopping versus simply slowing down. Maybe youll think twice about that coastal estate when having to pay for the real cost of ood insurance, and not a subsidized government version! It seems these direct cost (to the wallet) will motivate some basic behavioral change. How do you incentivize a broken system toward long term xes when society has been dumbed down to sound bites of misinformation? Millions of people have medical conditions/needs that they didnt cause and/or had no control over (those are the ones I would gladly help) however, that number of individuals times a factor of 10, 20, or something really big, are what I see as the irresponsibles, which have truly preventable needs that THEY caused and Im expected to subsidize. Furthermore, nothing in our current system will change irresponsible behavior of individuals, doctors, hospitals, insurance and drug companies, etc., etc. How about a legitimate safety net ... and we throw away all the other crap and start over? This isnt about answers ... as I said, its just me, a 1% ranting! 1% - Lifestyle only, denitely not wealth! Friday, October 11, 2013 Addendum: General assumptions about the population and specic stake holders in our health care system are just that, general and illustrative. The specic example about how the marketplace cost would impact my budget is probably understated, since I probably couldnt get comparable coverage as cheaply as $574/mo for the past 15 years.