Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Maternity Care is a Moral Hazard?




Well what do you know; maternity care is considered a moral hazard.  That’s right.  According to Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times, everyone in the United States has an obligation to pool their money into insurance programs so as to ensure Molly can afford to have her baby, at your expense of course.  And if you disagree with Mr. Hiltzik then you don’t understand how health insurance works.  Basically we’re a bunch of morons.

Here is his reasoning.  I’ve highlighted parts of it.  You can click the link below to read his article in full.

It takes two to tango. 


Well, Mr. Hiltzik what if you didn’t dance.  Why should an elderly couple or a single male, or for that fact a sexually inactive or barren woman have to pay higher premiums for a woman who chose to have a child.  The woman decided to have a child.  The rest of us didn’t


Society has a vested interest in healthy babies and mothers. And that's all society, because unhealthy babies and mothers impose a cost on everybody -- in the expense of caring for them as wards of the public, and in the waste of social resources that comes from children unable to reach their full potential as members of society because of injuries or illnesses caused by poor prenatal and postnatal health


So to ensure that mothers and their babies do not become wards of the state; Mr. Hiltzik would make the rest of us dependent on the government.  What’s happening is millions of Americans are losing their plans.  Their policies have trebled in price and their deductibles have skyrocketed.  Those who were once insured are now uninsured.  Many do not qualify for a federal subsidy, which is a form of welfare.  So far, I’m not impressed Mr. Hiltzik.


 Universal coverage is the only way to make maternity coverage affordable.


You’ll have to read Mr. Hiltzik’s convoluted reasoning for universal coverage.  Basically what he is saying is that we are all in this together.  All these government mandates or “cross-subsidies” are a societal kumbaya.  Never mind the fact that many of us can’t afford his socialist utopia.

What people like Mr. Hiltzik refuse to acknowledge is that the third-party payer system is the culprit for higher health care cost.  Health insurance was devised for catastrophic care.  It wasn’t meant to be a right that others are obligated to pay for.
  
    

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