How much do Animal Health Techs make?

Do you think a government loan program to pay health care costs would make more sense than insurance?

• I was thinking about the health care problem we face and the moral hazards behind both the private insurance and socialized medicine solutions. I don't think the very idea of insurance is compatible with a free market system because it's basically a contract in which only one party gives consideration while the other party makes a guarantee of consideration that can't possibly be guaranteed. Of course, there's also the problems of the government going beyond its constitutional authority by mandating people buy into the health insurance system, and if you don't mandate health insurance, then people who are uninsured are treated on the taxpayer's dime without having to pay into the system. Socialized medicine isn't necessarily any better because it also includes a mandate, which in this case is to pay into a different system altogether. So what I came up with was a way to more directly address the issue, which is for the government to offer loans to people who require health care using softer criteria than a private bank would use--the rationale being that borrowers in such a situation would benefit more substantially from such a loan than if it were given in ordinary cases, improving their financial situation and making it easier to follow through with their obligations. Since the people getting the benefits are the ones paying for them in the long run, no one is paying for someone else's bad habits, there is still a safety net for those who can't normally afford to pay a lump sum, people will have immediate access to better health care which will drive down the total cost of health care(instead of people going cheap, exacerbating their condition in the long run) and private industry will still be able to provide health care services(medicine, treatment, etc).

• Answer:

  If I have a heart attack, stroke or a child born prematurely, I don't want a $500,000-$1,000,000 loan. I'd rather pay $300/month and just be responsible for about $5,000 of that bill. Besides the fact that your plan increases the debt of a government that's already tapped out all of its credit cards. You just need to do with regular health insurance with what they did with long term care insurance. You first define what a "tax qualified" policy is so that most policies cover the same items (lessens the small print and surprises). Then you say that as long as you've been continuously covered that you can switch plan to plan regardless of pre-existing conditions. However, there should be rules in place to keep someone from buying a $10,000 deductible and being allowed to change it to a $100 deductible when they find out they have cancer. And, if you choose to go without coverage then you can buy back into the system at 300% higher premium (or something along those lines).