Universal Healthcare Debate 10: Q&A, part 3 (10/12)

The motion: "Universal health coverage should be the federal government's responsibility"

Moderator: John Donvan

Speaking for the motion: Art Kellermann, Paul Krugman and Michael Rachlis

Speaking against the motion: Michael F. Cannon, Sally C. Pipes and John Stossel

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• intelligence
• squared
• u.s.
• iq2
• debate
• universal
• healthcare
• uninsured
• health
• crisis
• insurance
• medicare
• medicaid
• commentary
• analysis

[gold95]

Krugman is really rude and disrespectful. Stossel didn't make rude remarks to him.

Cannon rocks Krugman at the end...LOL

[Claytrainor]

lmao... what a keynesian prick.

[neb967]

omg - michael rachlis looks like golem - damn he is ugly... love how cannon destroys krugman.... very interesting points......

[AshyKnucks]

Given his responses, the nuances of this topic seem to be way over John Stossel's head.

[100CommonCents]

i do like the voucher idea. i believe this solves a lot by separating people who want free-markets and not, and those in favour of welfare and not.

with vouchers you can have as much welfare as you want with completely free markets

this avoids blurring between govt and free-markets.

then the people who wish to push for public healthcare at least don't do it due to lack of empathy from government for the poor, since they could instead push for increasing voucher coverage.

[majinspy]

@TimeWarp66 I might argue. More people know about tires than know about MRI's. Plus if a tire gives out, not that big of a deal. If my heart does...I'm dead.

I don't know anything about cars and mechanics often recognize this and try to scare me into buying something. I always go to a friend and ask them whats up. I don't have friends who can tell me whether or not I need an MRI. The metaphor breaks down because of the severe differences in scarcity of knowledge.

[TimeWarp66]

@majinspy

Competition protects the consumer, not government mandates. Are you really going to argue with your car mechanic when he says you need all new tires? The average person doesn't know much about cars, so the government should regulate auto repair men to make sure no one's getting exploited? Of course not. It's not in a producers interest to exploit customers. Maybe you'd get away with it once, but in the long term you're completely screwed.

[majinspy]

@TimeWarp66 Your idea seems tenable. As long as people have access to healthcare that they otherwise wouldn't. I'm not sure it'd be a great idea to let people choose their own options...most people aren't able to make informed decisions regarding healthcare. Are you REALLY going to argue with a doctor that an MRI isn't neccessary? There would have to be rules on what the government paid for. Wellness / preventative services should be provided as well.

[TimeWarp66]

Just look at how food vouchers work.(Food stamps) They are a means tested program. If you earn under a certain amount you get a voucher to shop around for food in the private market place. Their are no government supermarkets for the poor.

New inventions are always expensive when they first come out, but over time prices drop. Take cell phones, Ipods..etc. The government forbids you from buying insurance across state lines. This creates artificial monopolies jacking up prices.

[majinspy]

@TimeWarp66 Part 2: Will the government provide vouchers to people who choose not to buy healthcare? Not a good deal for the government. Noone would buy healthcare, then. How would the government decide who could "afford" it and who couldn't? Secondly, HUGE advances in medicine have made procedures VERY expensive. 50 years ago, a cast was a big deal. Casts are cheap. MRI's, heart surgeries, cancer research...these things are NOT cheap.

You also never responded to my "screw the top .1%" claim.

[majinspy]

@TimeWarp66 First, I HATE that private charities stuff so many free market people say. It's the duct tape to hold any flaw of laissez-faire capitalism together. People never have been, and just aren't, that charitable. Someone in my hometown had his legs taken off by a tractor. There was private charity...that was a drop in the bucket compared to his bills.

Secondly, what evidence do you have of regulation making med bills as high as they are? My argument on this can't fit in 500 characters :(

[TimeWarp66]

Over half of bankruptcies are a result of medical costs because of government regulations driving prices through the roof! Remember when you argue against the American system, you are not arguing against the free market. Our system is no where near a free market system.

In a free market either local governments would provide vouchers to people who could not afford treatment, or private charities would provide for those who through no fault of their own cannot provide for themselves.