Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Riddle me this...Obama

A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry (www.pearyperry.com)

(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)

“Riddle me this….Obama”

Ok, let’s see if I understand the conditions for the new healthcare package.

Let’s try to use an example to make it simple….

Driver “A”- On one hand we have the driver of a car who has multiple DUI’s and has had several wrecks and accidents. He regularly receives traffic citations for speeding, running red lights and not watching for children at school crossings. He doesn’t believe in seat belts and has had a number of crashes resulting in severe head injuries which have caused him to undergo months of therapy and rehabilitation. In normal times it would be difficult if not impossible for him to obtain any automobile insurance through regular channels. He would be what is called a ‘high risk’ driver.

Driver “B”- On the other hand we have a driver, who has never had an accident, wears his seat belt, always maintains a safe speed and has never had a traffic ticket for any reason. This driver has been driving the same length of time as Driver “A”.

Now, you and I own an auto insurance company. We market and sell insurance for a living. We are a for profit business. We want to make money for those who have invested in our company. We know that insuring driver “A” is more of a risk due to his lack of responsibility and unsafe driving habits. We know that driver “B” is more apt to be a good client and a better risk due to his good driving habits. Statistically we know that our company will be more profitable if we secure more clients with good driving records than if we secure clients who drive poorly. This is just common sense.

So now, the government passes a law that says that all drivers should be treated the same, regardless of their previous driving habits and that you and I cannot charge any more for persons such as driver “A”. Driver “A” is to receive the same type of coverage as Driver “B” and will pay no more for it despite his dangerous and costly behavior. Driver “B” does not get any benefit from being a good driver while driver “A” gets no penalties for being a bad driver.

As a result the cost of providing insurance coverage to drivers such as driver “A”, the number of losses increase and our company eventually goes broke and is forced to close.

Take this example and replace it with healthcare. Can anyone explain to me how adding a large number of members to this program who are unable to pay for any coverage at this time while also allowing anyone with any pre-existing conditions to be admitted without any cost increases will make any sense at all? While I agree that we need to overhaul our current (or previous) healthcare program in this country, I do not agree that rewarding bad behavior is fair and just for those who are trying to not be a burden upon the system.

Out of wedlock and pregnant? No problem, free abortions. Hooked on heroin? No problem …free rehabilitation programs for you. Can’t pay your premiums? No problem, special financial assistance will be provided for you. You have a sexually transmitted disease? We can help with that, have all the unprotected sex you want, we’ll treat you when you need it.

And the list goes on and on.

Of course as a result of this, no insurance company can survive this type of madness and when that time comes the government can be expected to step in and take over these companies since they are…. “too big to fail”. The government doesn’t worry about anything as trivial as ‘profit’ since they have money machines (printing presses) that can crank out all of the paper that will be needed. It’s worked before for so long, why won’t it work in the future?

Because Bunkie, the bills (debt) keeps mounting and mounting and the guys paying the bills (working class citizens) can only crank out so much without falling over and giving up. Production goes does, revenues go down and taxes decline. Look at the budgets of our states at this time. A large number of them are about to go bankrupt. Who will come to their rescue?

You and I both know the answer to this question.

It’s a shame those in Washington don’t.

Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com

Complaints go nowhere.