Thoughts About Healthcare- The Entitlement Mentality Elephant in the Room

Listening to the President's speech tonight got me thinking about finally putting my thoughts down about the proposed healthcare bill. I admit, I have not read the bill, but have read many articles and listened to many smart people talk about it. I have tried to keep an open mind, but each time I start to go down the path of thinking that a government-run plan won't be THAT bad, something yanks me back to reality.

First a little background. I am licensed for and sell health insurance. Not big group policies, but individual and short term major medical policies. I don't really like selling health insurance; I do it as a convenience for my clients and friends.When I was living in Ohio, I met a former state legislator who was in love with MSAs--the so-called Archer Medical Savings Accounts that were the precursor to HSAs-health savings accounts. This legislator wanted to me to present the MSA plan to the board of directors of a large daycare provider association. This association had over 2000 members and frankly, it would have been a great sale for me. So here I go to downtown Cleveland, get my presentation all set up for these board members. Board members--remember that. Generally board members are executives, thought leaders, decision-makers. A group of 12 women sat around the table as I moved through the presentation. I recall that they were very attentive. I explained how the premiums were lower than traditional plans, the difference was put into a medical savings account that was tax deductible and would grow income tax free. The deductible was higher than traditional plans and in case of an emergency or catastrophic health situation, the insured could withdraw the funds tax free that they saved in the MSA and use it to pay for their care. When I came to the end of my spiel, it was time for Q&A. The first question came from a female daycare owner: "Why should I pay for insurance when I can go to the emergency room for free?" I swear to G-d, that was the first question. I knew right then and there that I was going home without a sale. Why? Because of the entitlement mentality.

It is all well and good that the government wants to "mandate" health insurance. Forcing us into buying health insurance or else! --just like car insurance (a car that can injure or kill other people). No one has addressed the institutionalized entitlement mentality that dates back to President Johnson's Great Society. And it isn't just the stereotypical inner city welfare mom that has this mentality. I have friends-white, middle class, working people that feel this way too. People that want to pit class against class to get health insurance. Never mind that they choose to spend money that should go towards being responsible, paying for their own health insurance but instead pay for BMW leases, vacations, and fine dining. Why should I have to subsidize their lack of responsibility? It is a joke that the President spoke to the school kids about responsibility. Isn't that what he wants us all to abdicate by going on the government plan? Let the government take care of us?

When I lived in Burlington, Vermont from 1987-1990 Bernie Sanders was our Socialist mayor--a real socialist, not a closet one. Many Canadians would come to our Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, the largest medical center in a tri-state area of upper New York State (Adirondacks), New Hampshire and Vermont. The docs loved the Canadians. It wasn't because they were such wonderful people, it was because they paid in cash. They would come there to have elective surgeries, heart surgeries, whatever would take them six months to hopefully get in Canada that they could schedule and have done in a week in the US.

Currently, I have Canadian clients with an interesting type of insurance. It is like Aflac on steroids, an indemnity policy that pays up to $600,000 cash for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as cancer, cardiac, orthopedic replacements. Now, why would Canadians have any need for that kind of insurance policy, especially since the premiums are over $11,000/year? It is precisely because they know they won't be able to get that care from their own government-run system. That is where we are heading if this healthcare bill or any plan that the government controls is put into place.

I haven't even gotten to the part where we have to pay for this! Perhaps if the US Govt hadn't paid off the banks with TARP ( a huge mistake, should've have let them fail), buy GM--that was a great investment (looks like we won't make money on that), not to mention the Porkulus, maybe we would've had a fighting chance to fund a small health insurance program for those middle class people who truly do fall through the cracks.

I have friends going through some really, really tough health issues now. I pray for them everyday. I think about if their health insurance went away and they had to wing it on their own. I think about my family's plan and what would happen if we lost it. This is a terrible problem for the millions who have lost their jobs and it is a choice between making rent or paying for insurance. Let's come up with a solution for them, but not at the expense of the rest of us who are ok. We shouldn't dismantle the entire system and start over. There is no doubt in my mind that a government run plan will ultimately be more expensive, more controlling, and offer less choice than private plans. After all, hasn't the government done a fine job with the USPS, Amtrax and let's not forget-Cash for Clunkers? The millions who have the entitlement mentality will find other ways to manipulate the system. Our system will be overburdened by this huge influx of people, with new rules and regs. It will become total chaos. I predict that many gifted, caring doctors will throw up their hands and find other things to do with less hassle. We will start looking like Canada. The entitlement mentality needs to be confronted head-on, not ignored like the elephant in the room.