Posted On: November 29, 2006, 2:23 pm CST

Posted By: Indian

I have another comment regarding your initial post which is making the argument that all health insurance should be done away with.

As an insurance agent I'm sure you realize that insurance serves a major purpose for society in that pools our collective risk so that the individual costs can be more manageable. To simply take away health insurance will not immediately lead to a 90% decrease in health care costs; or for that matter lead to any apparent decrease in cost at all. However what it would do is take away the ability to pay for health care for 99% of the people in this country. I don't think there are many people that have $100,000 stowed away in a bank account that they are reserving for when they get into a serious accident and are in the hospital for a week. Otherwise such a move would wipe out most people's retirement savings or send more people into very deep debt. Taking away health insurance without an immediate replacement would leave most people unwilling to spend their money on goods so that they can bolster their savings. The by product of that consumer behavior would be a sharp dip in spending that would have major negative consequences on the economy across the board. If the government is to have the funds to pay for all our health care it will have to dramatically reshape its fiscal policy. Current spending levels and priorities do not leave much room for a government funded health insurance system.

I don't believe that there is one reason why health care is so expensive. It is a complicated issue that will likely involve a series of reforms.