Category Archives: Health Care

Adverse Selection: Produce Aisle Edition

One concern of opponents of the health insurance legislation is that healthy young people will opt not to purchase government mandated health insurance, even when faced with a stiff penalty. If this were to happen, the pool of people still covered by insurance would be less healthy than a simple random sample of society. A [...]
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Dear Mr. President

Sometimes I imagine that I am granted the full, undivided attention of the President of the United States. If I had this opportunity now, this is what I might say:
Also posted in Central Planning, Innovation, Knowledge problem, Unintended Consequences, politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Unintended Consequence I Can Live With

As I understand it, the House of Representatives is expected to pass a massive overhaul of the health-care sector today. The bill will expand deficits and increase the government’s role in individual decision-making regarding health-care consumption. Several months ago I posted a quote from an interview with F.A. Hayek which I think best sums up [...]
Also posted in Central Planning, Government Spending, Innovation, Philosophy, Psychology & Behavior, Self Interest, Unintended Consequences, hayek | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Health Care Advertisement

What if your corner barbershop charged you for your haircut based on what insurance card you carry? This question was posed by a group calling itself Simplified Health Care in a full paged advertisement in the New York Times. It’s a silly question that has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Why would anyone get [...]
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Camelot Legacy Could End up Hurting Health Care

I usually don’t post about the horse-race element of American politics, but recent twists in the Senate race to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s seat have made the story too amusing to pass on an opportunity for commentary. If you don’t know the story, Republican candidate Scott Brown has posed an unexpected challenge to the Democrat [...]
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13 Attorney Generals Push the Dislike Button

In an earlier post I lamented but accepted the political deals that enabled the passage of the Senate version of the health care bill (note: I won’t call it reform). Apparently not everyone is as accepting as I was with how it happened. Attorney Generals from thirteen states are threatening to sue over the Nebraska [...]
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I Hope He Fails

I just finished reading Hayek on Hayek: An Autobiographical Dialogue, which paints a picture of Hayek the Man as well as Hayek the thinker/economist. I devoured it, which is rare for me since I tend to distract easily. It gives a sense of the intellectual and academic climate at various points in his career and [...]
Also posted in Knowledge problem | 1 Comment

Down With Corporate Welfare

The health care bill recently passed in the House encourages the opposite: “This will be a feast of lobbying and rent-seeking as it will be tinkered with for years if it passes.  Who wins at that game?  Not you and me, but Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Big Corporations in general, who can absorb the costs [...]
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Romer on Health Care Reform

In a previous post, I expressed doubt in CEA Chair Christinia Romer’s claim that savings from health care reform would counter-balance the deficits the federal government is currently running. Now, Romer has another testimony out that outlines the proposals for future savings. Here are a few: Incentives for preventive care and sensible promotion of a healthy lifestyle Tax [...]
Posted in Health Care | Tagged | 3 Comments

A Divisive Issue

“But we should not forget the cost of translating that noble aspiration into practical policy. As a matter of economic logic, President Obama’s goal of universal health insurance cannot help but undermine former President Reagan’s goal of lower marginal tax rates. Future generations of Americans may find health insurance more affordable, but they will also [...]
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