Mag Lev and China

Re: [spiers] Medical outsourcing

John,

You are a very optimistic man. I just read the first post about medical
outsourcing and your (wishful?) comment " Why, if something is not done about
this trend, we might see reform of medicine in USA!." Then I saw this gem today
from the AMA:

>Millions of upper-income Americans refuse to buy health insurance because
they're young and healthy and figure they don't need it.
But now the American Medical Association wants to force them to buy coverage.
At its annual meeting in Chicago on Tuesday, the nation's largest doctors' group
called for mandatory health insurance for anyone who makes more than five times
the poverty level. That works out to $49,000 for an individual and $100,000 for
a family of four.

No one would go to jail for refusing to buy coverage. The AMA instead suggested
using the tax code to force compliance. There would be incentives such as tax
credits for people who buy insurance and higher taxes for those who don't.

Of the 46 million uninsured Americans, about 5 million, or 11 percent, make more
than five times the poverty level. The AMA said these people burden the health
care system when they incur catastrophic medical bills they can't afford to pay.
The cost gets passed on to those who largely pay for the health care system:
taxpayers, employers and the insured.

"Society should not be penalized by the potential costly medical treatments of
those uninsured who can afford to purchase health insurance coverage," an AMA
report said. < http://www.suntimes.com/output/health/cst-nws-ama14.html

When it passes, and it will in some form pass, it can be titled the "American
Medical System Full Employment Act" This is a variant of the Massachusetts law
making it mandatory for its residents to purchase health insurance.

Where are all the "get government off the back of the people" conservatives now?
The "free market" advocates in Washington D.C. seem to be missing in action
here. I wonder why.

R.L. Tietz

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