Part Two

So I made the case yesterday that medical expenses are skyrocketing and no end in sight. An easy case.

The government has had a hand in making sure costs go up, by creating a monopoly and price protection. Getting the government out of medicine and letting the free market control would be preferrable.

Insurance companies have a hand in making sure costs go up. They don't care if costs increase as long as they can tell their shareholders that premiums are going up even faster. I don't see many insurance companies that are actually working to reduce the costs of medical expenses for families.

Doctors and Medical Practioners are in on it too. They work darn hard to make cosmetic and optional medicine a "need" so that the insurance companies can pay. They are using only expensive drugs, and very rarely perscribe generics unless asked by the patient. They never suggest to the patient ways to save money

Attorneys, the ambulance chasing kind, have run the cost of practicing medicine up to draconian levels because doctors have to purchase millions in coverage in case they ever make a mistake.

So, what are the politicians suggesting? Let's see Hillary thinks the government should just take over all medical coverage. Tax everyone who makes money, to pay for the entire system. Does that sound a bit like social security, which we already know doesn't work. Republicans are so busy being scared of the "poverty" segment of society, they don't want to recommend anything expect "limiting" government largess. Socialists and Libertarians are suggesting even dumber things. I would include the labor unions for the most part with the former, and "think tank" talking heads with the latter.

This is shaping up as a pretty catastrophic battle. The average household in middle America will have to work to make $50,000 a year for all their expenses, and then a second or third job for the $20-30,000 it would take to pay for their ever-increasing medical coverage. Now that's the kind of country I can be proud of, that's the place I like to call the American Dream.

No one, not a single politician, seems to care about the sheer cost of the medicine. You'll hear some talk about quality of life, or quality of coverage, or cost of innovation, or need to limit the power of the attorneys. But, I say no one is saying "Medicine Costs Too Much!!!!!"

You know what comes next, right? Housing and the expense of a home for the average American is going through the same exact cycle, it's just a few years behind. No one is saying "Homes and the expense of keeping a home are too expensive!!!!!"

I'd like to be the first.