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Nobody Is Wrong All The Time


Huzzah! My book is finally the way I want it, and is available. If you are interested, please check out the sidebar on the right. Perhaps I can now get back to normal blogging.

I am going to do something that all respectable conservatives, and unfortunately many liberals, think is a no-no: accept some arguments from the other (conservative) side. While I still think a single payer plan would be the way to go on healthcare, the chances of getting that through the legislature are slim to none. (By the way, why do “slim” chance and “fat” chance mean the same thing: practically “zero” chance? Should not they be opposites?) But I digress.
So in order to keep from letting “perfect” be the enemy of “good,” I need to wrap my head around the 2,000+ pages now being debated in the Senate. But I think that the right has some suggestions that should be included in the bill:

1.)                          Tort reform. A victim of malpractice should receive full reimbursement for out-of-pocket medical expenses, but I am not convinced that the amount of pain and suffering is inversely proportional to the amount of cash received. Why not limit the “pain and suffering” award to some reasonable amount, say, $500,000. This would hold down the costs of malpractice suits, and doctors would not have to run needless tests in order to keep their insurance premiums at a reasonable level.
2.)                          If we are going to have insurance, allow insurance purchasers to buy across state lines. If I live in Pennsylvania, and I prefer to buy insurance from a New York company, allow me to do so. Under the capitalistic system competition is good for everybody.
3.)                          If an employer pays health insurance premiums for the employees, include the premiums in the employees’ taxable income. Payment of insurance premiums by an employer is in lieu of higher wages, and should be taxed as if the insurance were dropped and the savings put into wages.

I really need to stop reading those conservative writers. What do you think?

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