Canadian HealthCare

Canada has a population smaller than the state of California. Yet its socialized medicine is administered at the provincial level -- not at the federal level. (Whereas the United States, with its huge population, the ObamaCare will be administered at the federal level.)

Each province of Canada has its own version of "Medicare-for-all." In British Columbia, every individual (whose annual income is $28,000 or greater) must pay a flat-tax premium of $57.00 per month -- regardless of age. In Alberta, there is no premium, but merely a progressive tax based solely on income -- again no discrimination based on age. (Under ObamaCare, the mandated insurance will allow insurance rates to be three times higher for the 50's + age group versus the 20's age group.)

In all the provinces of Canada, the "Medicare-for-all" covers for basic healthcare, routine doctor visits and  emergency care. It does not cover optional procedures (like plastic surgery) nor does it cover prescription drugs (except for seniors, who do get drug coverage.) But employers often provide supplemental insurance. These employer-provided plans are often "Cadillac plans," where they can include things like massage therapy and fitness clubs.

Via my interviews with many Canadian citizens, medical clinics for "emergency care" tend to get overcrowded with young families having only minor ailments (like the common cold). Waits in Ontario can last for 3 to 6 hours.

Primary care doctors and surgeons (covered under the government) are forbidden to privately contract with patients. In other words, patients are not allowed to pay those doctors for personal care.

For things like hip-replacement surgery, it may be a wait of several months. But wealthier Canadians often travel to the United States or to Europe to privately contract with a hospital and pay cash out-of-pocket ... to "jump the line" and get instant surgery. (But doing that inside Canada would be strictly forbidden.)

When ObamaCare gets fully implemented in the United States, healthcare would become two-tiered. The U.S. citizens would be stuck in overcrowded waiting rooms; healthcare will be rationed -- especially for seniors. But the ruling class elites will be able to "jump the line" by traveling to Panama or Costa Rica for first-class healthcare down there. Whereas swelling numbers of ordinary Americans will be stuck in the U.S.A. within the Medicaid ghetto.

But ObamaCare will be worse than Canadian care, in that the 50's + age group would be discriminated by their age via the higher "tax" they'd be forced to pay (otherwise known as an insurance premium.) This reduces the saving potential for that age group as they approach retirement. They'd be trapped in poverty.

Whether it's Canadian healthcare, ObamaCare, RomneyCare or Medicare ... they all are based on the model of  "Third-party Payer." The ordinary citizen does not have an incentive to economize. Whereas the healthcare monopolies become hooked to this arrangement of easy profit, guaranteed by the government.

Under ObamaCare (and because of the "certificate of need" regulations), hospitals are going to be "too-big-to-fail" ... just like AIG and the investment banks of Wall Street. This will be horrible for the healthcare consumer. Welcome to our future nightmare.

ObamaCare is Especially Bad for Older People

ObamaCare is very costly for the folks mandated to participate in it. Those costs become higher, the older you get -- especially for the Middle Class (whose subsidies are less). People who approach 65 years of age, the higher marginal costs would have a most severe impact .. because of their diminished opportunities for savings.

Kudos to Paul Gregory Matuszak and to Craig J. Casey .. who are among the smartest men in Twitter.

https://twitter.com/#!/pavelgregory
https://twitter.com/#!/CraigJCasey

Reihan Salam's Interview with Lou Dobb's on March 24, 2010

Reihan Salam, the coauthor of a book "Grand New Party," was a guest on the Lou Dobb's Radio Show, March  2010. The subject was about the health-care bill that had just been signed into law, back then.

5:26-5:40 Lou Dobbs: And this is the same President that has been out trashing, vilifying, demonizing insurance companies; but as a result of this legislation, more than $300 billion will be put in their pockets because of the individual mandate.

5:41-6:00 Reihan Salam: Yup yup yeah, I think that's absolutely right ... And I think that what we're likely to see, in my opinion, is that the individual mandate is going to get, quote unquote, strengthened ... Which means that you're going to see it get tougher ... You're going to see tougher, stiffer fines coming down the road ... And I think that, you know, it's likely that Republicans are going to be the ones doing that. I hope that's not actually the case.

6:01-6:02 Lou Dobbs: Why do you think it'll be Republicans doing that?

6:03-6:55  Reihan Salam: Well why? Because basically the Democrats had passed this bill that is unworkable ... And the Republicans are going to come in, they're going to find out that, you know, 'Guess what? ... We can't actually repeal this thing.' ... And so, you know Republicans who are cozy with the health insurance companies, just as you have got Democrats who are cozy with the health insurance companies, you're going to get a handful of them who are going to say, 'Well hey, you know we can do the health insurance companies a favor.' -- I'm not saying that's going to happen necessarily ... I'm saying it could very well happen ... And if you think that it can't, you're being naïve. I think that you're going to see all kinds of ways this bill is going to be fixed at the edges: that are actually going to strengthen the hands of the big winners from this ... Which are either the pharmaceutical companies or the insurance companies. The Pharmaceutical companies had spent tens of millions of dollars to get this legislation passed ... And they're breaking out the champagne right now because they know that it's a big win for them.

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My own commentary:

Fast forward to 2012. Why do you suppose Mitt Romney is a huge recipient of money from corporate donors? Why do you suppose Romney had recently stated his Massachusetts' Health Care Plan to be "conservative," particularly in reference to the mandate? Do you really believe that Mittens will fully repeal ObamaCare? (If Supreme Court rules the mandate to be constitutional, then Romney will have the green light to preserve the mandate, too.) That's why I very strongly oppose his candidacy.

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For the full podcast of the Lou Dobbs interview with Reihan Salam: http://bit.ly/wtqulp

For info on Reihan Salam's book: http://amzn.to/zIbcBw

On Twitter, Reihan Salam is @reihansalam or go to: http://bit.ly/wHKblx

The Canadians

Passengers from Windsor, Ontario:

The middle-aged couple gave a stern warning to us Americans regarding ObamaCare ... "Don't do it!" They stated that the Canadian system of single-payer is a disaster. Whenever people of their family need some kind of medical surgery, they'd have to wait for months within the Canadian system. So instead, they'd choose to cross the border, pay out-of-pocket, and go to a U.S. hospital in Michigan.

The husband stated that Stephen Harper is the best prime minister Canada has ever had ... and that "he is the best in the world." Harper is a true conservative and is pro-capitalism.

I asked about automobile plants in Canada. The man responded that Canadian workers are more productive than American workers. Manufacturing is thriving in Windsor. While the labor unions are strong in Canada, the workers also know they must work hard if they want the companies to stay in Canada. If they become lazy or spoiled like their American counterparts, then the plants would have to shut down (with the jobs to be outsourced elsewhere).

Passengers from Edmonton, Calgary:

I've had them as passengers more than once. They are an easygoing pair, with a relaxed, Western Provinces demeanor.

Both the man and wife are very happy with Stephen Harper as prime minister. But they also like President Obama. Their attitude toward Canadian HealthCare is not as negative as the folks from Ontario. But they do admit that for elective surgeries, they'd have to wait for several months.

The Edmonton man criticizes the United States government as drifting too much toward "corporate socialism." Whereas he feels that Canada is becoming a friendlier country for free market capitalism.

The Edmonton couple is a bit puzzled about American HealthCare reform, emanating from Washington D.C. In Canada, the provinces are in charge of their own single-payer HealthCare fiefdoms. The man stated that the population of the entire country of Canada is less than the population of California. (Canada's population is 35 million; California's population is 37 million.) So it doesn't make sense for the federal government to be dictating HealthCare reform when it should be more at the state level.

I asked the Edmonton folk about illegal aliens in Canada, "Is it a problem?" They responded that it is nothing like that in the United States. The Canadian government is very strict. If an illegal alien shows up for free HealthCare at a hospital, they'd still get treated ... but will then be immediately deported out of the country. Whereas in U.S. hospitals, the illegals give birth to babies (in maternity wards) without fear of deportation. (The baby is then granted U.S. citizenship, whereas the parents retain illegal status.)

Passenger from Wasilla

As an airport shuttle driver, I had an interesting passenger from Wasilla, Alaska. She knows Sarah Palin as a casual acquaintance, as do many people in Wasilla. The lady was of similar age. She considered Palin as a regular person of the common folk, a fellow Wasillan.

While Sarah was governor, she was down-to-earth and easily accessible. They'd meet at the local supermarket and chit chat. But when she became running mate of John McCain, things changed. All of a sudden, she became surrounded by security people and hounded by the media.

My passenger identified herself as a centrist. Yet she loved Sarah Palin as a governor because "she is a fighter" who fought "for the people of Alaska" ... whereas the "special interests" were of no match to her. Sarah has moxie.

But when Sarah Palin resigned as governor, the native Wasillans were hugely disappointed. The successor Sean Parnell is "terrible" as governor. I asked my passenger ... why? She replied, it doesn't have much to do with his actual political positions ... it's that Gov. Parnell has no backbone. He is not a fighter like Sarah Palin. Special interests walk all over him. And Parnell caves in to Washington bureaucrats, not fighting to open up Anwar for oil. [This was my passenger's opinion.]

Meanwhile, the writer/publicist who moved next door to the Palins "to spy on her" is considered somewhat as a joke by the Wasillans. And so Sarah Palin no longer has any privacy. At the grocery store, people would know right away if Sarah happened to be shopping there. The half-dozen security cars parked in the lot would be the hint. (Presumably, they are scanning the premises for bad guys.) So when my passenger sees Sarah at the market, she still says hello ... but now seems more rushed. No time for casual conversation.

Danger in the City ... Phoenix Valley Metro

Part I ... Peoria to Gilbert

On Saturday, September 3 ... I had undertaken a journey from Peoria to Mesa-Gilbert via the Phoenix Valley Metro. The first three miles was the bicycle ride to the Arrowhead Town & Country Mall in Glendale.

At the mall staging area, a crazed man was shouting obscenities while the Glendale police were "babysitting" him. The lunatic wildly paced around and argued with the officers. There were roughly four Glendale policemen who oversaw the unruly man.

I was sitting at a bench nearby, whereupon a Glendale officer requested that I move to another spot further away ... for my own safety, since the man was acting rather unpredictable and might be dangerous. Not long later, the bus arrived. But to my shock, the police sent the wild man to the bus -- "dumping" him into the vehicle and "no longer their problem." As soon as the officers walked away, the man mockingly told the bus driver that the policemen needed to come back so that "they can kiss his ass."

I placed my bicycle on the front carrier of the bus. I then sat in the front while the crazy man sat in the back. The bus was filled roughly one-third of capacity. For the next several miles, the crazed man periodically shouted obscenities and let out some high-pitched screams. The other passengers were silent, uncomfortable, and appeared frightened. The bus driver spoke into the intercom, ordering the man to shut up.

Subsequently, the driver radioed for help. At the next stop, the authorities were going to come to arrest that man or take him into custody. But at that next stop, the wild man exited the bus, shouted more obscenities, then walked across a parking lot and toward a convenience store.

With the man gone, the rest of the bus ride was quiet. But it became crowded. Most of the passengers were very poor, wore old clothes, looked dirty, nobody talked, everybody looked sad. Virtually everybody were Latinos, with a few blacks mixed in.

On a positive note, the bus and the bus driver were very wheelchair friendly. A ramp and lift gently transports the handicapped person upward into the bus interrior. The driver then very dutifully assists the wheelchair person and straps him onto the seat belt contraption.

At 19th Avenue and Bell, I transferred busses with my bicycle. It was roughly a 15 or 20 minute wait in the oppressive heat. The temperature was about 110 F.

When the bus arrived, it was a long line to get into the vehicle. We were stuck there in the queue, as the bus driver haggled with boarding passengers over the price of fare and ticket disputes. After about another ten minutes, one young couple (who had already entered the bus) now turned around and came back out of the bus. I asked them why they now refused to board? They replied that they were 75 cents short. I gave them a dollar. (Their destination was to an apartment complex several miles to the south.)

The bus was jam-packed full. Again, everybody looked poor, had sad faces, and were very quiet. Nobody looked at nobody. The silence was surreal, considering how crowded it was in there.

Open containers of soda pop are prohibited in the bus. Yet passengers with open drinks would board, the driver would tell them no, they argue back, the driver caves in. Dogs (except for service animals) are also prohibited. One middle-aged lady disobeyed the bus driver, boarded the bus with her little pet dog. This reminded me of buses in Southeast Asia, where peasants would bring in their little chickens, too.

Again, almost all of the passengers were either Latino or African-American. But there was this one Anglo-white guy that was on board. He was particularly obnoxious. This man started berating the bus driver for his "violation" of Valley Metro rules regarding the driver allegedly doing the beginning portion of the bus route with an "out of service" sign on display. The passenger kept on haranging the driver, telling him that his report to the Phoenix City Transit Authority will result in his termination from employment.

The bus driver ordered the passenger to go sit down and be quiet ... because his tirade is causing a danger and distraction from driving the bus safely. But the man kept on his diatribe. (We passengers were ready to punch that idiot in the face.)

Fortunately, the next bus stop was the transfer to the Phoenix Light Rail. But that was where the obnoxious man also got off. Ironically, he happened to be another fellow biker. We both boarded the train. That man was no longer nasty; he suddenly became nice and polite. He helped me into the train and directed me into the bicycle section. (It's very strange, this Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.)

The train journey was comfortable, not crowded, and had more middle-to-upper income folk as passengers. Most of them were now white Anglos. The end of the train ride was just west of Downtown Mesa. I transferred onto another bus for the ride toward Gilbert. Once in the bus, there was a small sprinkling of passengers.


Part II ... Mesa to Peoria

Boarding the Phoenix Light Rail at the Mesa Station was at around 10:00 PM. A few of us cyclists boarded into the center part of the train. It wasn't crowded at all.

As the train arrived into Tempe, throngs of college students boarded. Most of them got into the back compartment. They were loud and boisterous. Many of them were also drunk. During the journey, it felt like a party.

At the next stop, young Blacks and Latinos boarded. They entered into the front compartment. As we progressed onward to Central Phoenix, one middle-aged Hispanic woman started cursing at this one ornery hombre. She accused him of making some kind of sexually explicit remarks. She was lunging at him, in the process of punching him in the face. The other Latino women in her vicinity held her back and tried to calm her down. The Mexican man was smirking back.

At the next stop, more Blacks boarded, wearing clothes that suggest gang attire. They sat in the front compartment with the Hispanics. As the train then proceeded, the Blacks and the Mexicans got into a brawl. I pressed the red emergency button, delaring to the train engineer of "a fight that is now occurring in the train." Then immediately, the engineer spoke in the intercom, "Stop fighting." Fortunately, at the next stop, the fighters all disembarked.

Once I got off the train at Montebello and 19th Ave ... I finally felt safe. Bicycling across North Phoenix into Central Glendale at Midnight was peaceful solitude. Whereas inside the train, I felt like a caged animal.

About the only incident I encountered on my bicycle that involved danger was these young teenagers who were drunk. They were driving wildly on Olive Ave. near Glendale Community College. As some kind of crazy stunt, they dumped off one of their buddies into the middle of the highway, who was then staggering on foot. The stench of alcohol was very strong. Then they double backed, skidding their vehicle while doing a u-turn. Whereupon I had to bicycle away from the scene, lest I become victimized by their antics.

At 67th & Thunderbird, I hung out at the Quiktrip (QT) from around 12:30 till 1:15 AM. I joined a small group of 20-somethings AND an off-duty policeman (from Tolleson) ... who was contracted for night security at that QT on the weekends. We were all loitering -- in front of the "no loitering" sign. So we were all breaking the law. The policeman was friendly. (Yet I was tempted to ask him why he wasn't arresting us for "loitering.")

The last leg of the bicycle ride was uneventful. Though it was the wee hours of the morning, the summer heat was still radiating from the concrete below. Once home, I was glad the day was over.


Phoenix Valley Metro (Wikipedia Link)

ObamaCare Mandates Fealty to Rent-Seeking Classes

The individual mandate of ObamaCare will force us citizens to use insurance as the conduit of payment for routine health-care. It will further erode the doctor-patient relationship. The third party stands in the way between doctor and patient.

The Byzantine nature of ObamaCare is to benefit the rent-seeking classes, not the consumer. Lobbyists and consultants of the health-care industry wrote the bill. In contrast, regarding the lawmakers who voted on the bill, most of them never read it! While the bill itself was over 2000 pages long, the regulations currently being written up by Kathleen Sebelius are even longer! (This means plenty of money for attorneys' fees in business law.)

ObamaCare takes power away from the consumer, who is coerced to make the insurance company his landlord over his own health-care. This will hurt the middle-class the most. The rent paid to the insurance company is a most regressive type of "tax." While the poor and the illegal immigrants (who are exempt from the mandate) will receive government subsidized health-care, the middle-class will bear the brunt of the burden. The premiums will be a huge percent of income for a typical John Henry; whereas for a wealthy person, it is only a miniscule percent of income.

ObamaCare also discriminates against people in their 50's, who will be forced to purchase policies three times more expensive than peope in their 20's. Yet (with the exception of smoking), it will prohibit insurance companies from rewarding people with lower premiums for living a healthy lifestyle (i.e. keeping their weight down, exercising, eating right, avoiding drugs and alcohol, not engaging in promiscuous sex, etc.)

Thus, the typical 55 year old is obese, has type-II diabetes, doesn't exercise, drinks heavily, smokes cigarettes, consumes super-sized soft drinks, eats greasy french-fries, etc. Therefore, his health-care costs will be quite high. But another 55 year old may be exercising regularly, avoids fast-food restaurants, doesn't smoke or drink, lives a chaste lifestyle, etc. But because he's in his 50's, he is forced to pay super high premiums to subsidize the couch potatoes of his age group. This isn't right. *See note below.

With auto insurance, you get rewarded for your lifestyle choices (i.e. no speeding tickets, no DUI's, no reckless driving citations, etc.) If ObamaCare were to be applied here ... those driving habits would be declared as "preexisting" conditions. (Good drivers would then be forced to pay the same high rates as the reckless drunks.) Likewise, ObamaCare for Autocare would mandate that insurance underwrite for our auto repairs and gasoline, too! People would purchase gas guzzlers and go on long joy rides. Whoopee! ... the gasoline is "free." With "no skin" in the game, costs will go up for the insurance companies. Then the premium rates will skyrocket. Eventually, there'd be rationing -- especially when the government imposes price controls upon the industry.

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*Note ... ObamaCare does have a wellness program (via "The Safeway Amendment"), but it is only available to corporations that are self-insured and willing to implement it. The rules governing this program are quite complex, requiring the expertise of an attorney in business law. For those employees who participate in such programs ... they will have their premiums cut in half if they succeed in losing weight, get their blood pressure & cholesterol levels under control, and if they exercise regularly. (Under ObamaCare, the opportunity to join such wellness programs will be quite limited. Independent contractors are thus ineligible. The majority of Americans will have no such access, either.)