It takes forty-two thousand a year to keep him alive - OOPS! Make that seventy-five thousand. Updated.


Where does a libertarian go for a free market alternative?
I admit I am biased on healthcare.

My stepfather is institutionalized. I won't go into his symptoms, but he is bedridden, on a feeding tube, and mentally incapable of carrying on a conversation about half the time. He seems happy and doesn't have pain. He smiles when he sees people.

His condition is progressive. There is no way he will recover. He will never be any better. He could die tomorrow or he could hang on for thirty more years.

But he is my stepdad. I can't "pull the plug" on him. Nor would I ask that anyone else do it for me.

Through careful juggling of his retirement, Medicare, and a few other things, his care is paid for without Mom losing the house or any of her assets. I've lost track of how many government agencies are involved.

The direct costs to keep him alive run about thirty-five hundred a month. I want you to think about that for a moment. That's $3500 doing nothing but keeping him alive with no hope of recovery. Without all that careful juggling and various circumstances, we could not afford to keep him alive.

See, that is part of the problem, our health care is not set up to deal with long term conditions. We expect people to get better.

Each of the government agencies involved has a different review period. One is 15 days, some are 30, a couple are 45, and most are 90. A question raised by any agency can trigger inquires by any or all of the others, resetting the clock. I estimate that filing paperwork and keeping all the agencies satisfied probably consumes another two hundred monthly in time, effort and materials. That's another $2400 a year.

I absolutely hate that my stepfather's life depends on balancing one government agency against two or three others at any given time.

As a libertarian, believe me, I know it moves beyond irony.

The thing is, a big part of why medical services are so expensive is because there is no REAL free market for medical care in the United States. More than half of all medical care goes through things like Medicare, the VA, and more government agencies than I can name. Most of which have serious problems with fraud and waste, all on the public dollar. Of what's left, it's all highly regulated.

Under the new Democrat medical plan, some existing insurance would still be allowed, but some would be phased out right away. The rest would be phased out as the patient's needs changed (see the infamous page 16 of the bill).

If our existing medical care is flawed, it's because our government made it that way.

They can't be allowed to "fix it" ANY MORE. The politicos are only interested in their own power.

Update: It's actually more than $3500 per month. The $3500 is what the family contributes each month, mainly by signing over his retirement and social security. There is a little more that Mom pays as a monthly bill.

In my defense, I goofed because it's not my checkbook. I was going by memory.

However, if you count the 'total costs," it actually costs about $6300 per month.

"Ah," I can hear you saying. "That means that Federal government pays to keep your father alive. It couldn't be done without them."

That's sort of like the neighbor drive your car insurance up by wrecking your car, and then demanding that you thank him because he's the only salesman allowed to sell you a policy.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Wed - July 22, 2009 at 08:41 AM  Tag


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