America Has Been Lobotomized
The Market Ticker ® - Commentary on The Capital Markets
Posted 2012-03-06 11:18
by Karl Denninger
in Health Reform
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America Has Been Lobotomized
 

Good lord, I knew the hate email and comments would come, but could you at least show a bit of intelligence before enticing me to swing the ban hammer and toss you off the forum?

In reference to the previous post (for those who don't want to click and just read it) this is about Sandra Fluke's intentional misdirection when it comes to birth control and health "insurance."

Let's put forward math to this, shall we?

We shall presume that Sandra is right, and that every woman should use birth control all the time, except, of course, when desiring to become pregnant.

In other words, every woman should have access to and use these drugs whether for personal choice of unbridled sexual opportunity (without the risk of pregnancy) or therapeutic purposes, and all "health plans" should be required as a matter of law to provide those drugs.

Ok.

So if we make that set of assumptions, what happens?

The price you actually pay as a woman, all-in, goes up.

Why?

Simple.

Let's assume 10,000 women in the world.  All of them want to use birth control pills.  They cost $15/month.  The total expense is therefore $150,000 per month.

Or is it?

Well, it is if every one of those 10,000 women buy it themselves. WalMart, CVS and the online pill sellers will all compete for the business, and the price will be about as efficiently determined as the market can manage.  It won't be perfect, but it will be, on balance, efficient.

Ok, now we'll change this model a bit.  We'll require under penalty of law (that's a gun, wielded by the government, shoved up your nose) that all "health insurance plans" cover this drug.

What happens?

The money now has to flow through at least one more set of hands.  That set of hands will demand to be paid for handling that money, since nobody works for free.  And magically, that $15 will become $16, $17 or even $20, because the people who work for that insurance company require a paycheck and there's only one place to get the money from -- you.

So by inserting the gun of the government into this equation and forcing this "public policy imperative" for something that everyone wants, the price goes up and the economic efficiency goes down.

It must, simply due to the laws of mathematics and the fact that nobody, even in a feminist utopia, will work for nothing.  The more hands the money or product has to pass through the more it will cost. 

Period.

So the real issue here isn't what's being presented at all.

The truth of this "argument" is that Sandra and her ilk want to force people who have no desire or need for birth control at all -- they're either too old to need it, to young to need it, want to conceive, are not having sex and thus have no use for it or are male and thus have no reason to consume birth control pills under any circumstance -- to pay for her elective choice to sleep with people and not get pregnant.

Now if you and I want to form a voluntary association to buy and sell prepaid health care with these provisions I have no quarrel with it at all.  That's the nature of voluntary associations -- you choose to either be in or out in the first instance.

But ObamaCare, and government-managed "health care" in general irrespective of form is not voluntary in any way, shape or form.  This, incidentally, includes the entire current health-delivery system including EMTALA, employer-centered "insurance" (that is not insurance) and more.

The entire system is at its core all about the use of force by the government to shove a gun up your nose and demand that you buy for someone else.

Under this very same rubric the government has the right to force you to buy my iPhone, my steak, my Beluga caviar, my Rolls-Royce, my boat and my cruise vacation.  Oh, and my sexual exploits including the exotic $5,000 a night suite and $1,500 an hour prostitute (in a place where such is legal, like most of Nevada.)  All of these things, just as is birth control, are voluntarily-consumed elective choices that we each have the right to decide we want, but we do not have the right to force anyone else to pay for them so we can have them.

Sandra doesn't want to talk about what the real issue is, nor the essential character of this debate. 

But I have, and I will, exactly as I have all the way back to when I went after the Catholic Bishops originally on the same grounds.

The simple fact of the matter is that this sort of crap is simply the latest manifestation of Marxism ("from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs") that has become manifest in both the Republican and Democrat parties.  Both parties are more than happy to play this game when it suits them, then scream about the other party being the evil spawn of Satan when it does not.  The Democrats latest (but by no means only or last) incantation of this assault comes from Pelosi-the-Satanic trotting out people like Sandra Fluke to lie about the cost of "birth control" and assert that "everyone wants and should have it" when in fact they know damn well that if everyone wants it the most-efficient and lowest-cost way for everyone to have it is for them to buy it directly with their own money.

The correct result of this screaming is for Obamacare to be repealed, for anti-trust exemptions for health care in all of its forms (including insurance) to be repealed, for cost-shifting to be barred as a matter of federal law (including repeal of EMTALA and asserting Clayton and Robinson-Patman discriminatory pricing statutes against the pharma and device makers, along with forcing the posting of price and level billing for all procedures in like kind and quantity) and for tax preferences for businesses to be eradicated -- either let everyone have "from first dollar" exemptions against income tax for all medical expenses (including insurance) or repeal all of those exemptions, whether personal or business.

And yes, I apply the exact same set of standards to Viagra and similar "recreational pharmaceuticals."  If in the future I have a use for such drugs I should buy them with my own money and not attempt to charge off the cost of my sexual pleasure on other people.

Since I began commenting on markets and economics, dating back to the 1990s, I have always maintained that cost-shifting in all of its forms is both inefficient and in most cases is morally and ethically indefensible.   That Limbaugh did a*****-poor job of illustrating his point doesn't make him wrong -- he in fact was and is right.  It just means that those on the left seized the opportunity to toss sand in their own vaginas and then scream about the self-inflicted pain after they were called out on their lies.

If you you haven't figured out by now is that no matter where the stupidity is or how politically explosive it is I am more than willing to wade in with a fact-and-math based exposition of the truth, you haven't been reading here long enough, you need an eye examination or a brain transplant, as yours is obviously defective.

And for the latter two options you need to pay for them with your own money.

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Fraudster
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Genesis wrote..
Under this very same rubric the government has the right to force you to buy my iPhone, my steak, my Beluga caviar, my Rolls-Royce, my boat and my cruise vacation. Oh, and my sexual exploits including the exotic $5,000 a night suite and $1,500 an hour prostitute (in a place where such is legal, like most of Nevada.) All of these things, just as is birth control, are voluntarily-consumed elective choices that we each have the right to decide we want, but we do not have the right to force anyone else to pay for them so we can have them.


Bingo Gen! Bingo!

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"Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Circulation ceases first at the outer edges [Europe and Japan]. It will take a while yet for the decay to reach the heart [America]." - Foundation & Empire by Isaac Asimov

Templar223
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From ABC this morning: "Green Firms Get Fed Cash, Give Execs Bonuses, Fail".

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/green-firm....

From the Wash Post: HOLDER: US can target citizens overseas...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nati....

And from ZeroHedge: ECB Surpasses €3 Trillion, Still Most Undercapitalized Hedge Fund In The World

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ecb-balanc....

This birth control brouhaha has been nothing but a masterful distraction by the Democrats from the real issues facing us as Americans.

Karl does a good job breaking it down, but it's still a monumental distraction. Unfortunately, Joe Sixpack thinks this birth control crap is the headline news, not the financial******of our nation's citizens by government and their crony bankers.

John

Micron26
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I agree that government should not require private insurers and/or religiously affiliated entities to cover the cost of contraceptives.

But the real issue here has been overlooked. The medical profession has created an unnecessary hurdle to obtaining these drugs (which cost about as much to produce as aspirin) in that a prescription is required. Thus, as is typical in the US, costs are massively inflated and access is limited. I can walk into any pharmacy in Europe tomorrow and buy the pill over the counter for 5 euros (or less) for a 28-day supply.

But we get to pay 3X-6X (or more) as much to have a doctor tell us to take it once a day.
Fraudster
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Quote:
This birth control brouhaha has been nothing but a masterful distraction by the Democrats from the real issues facing us as Americans.


I don't know about you, but I am fully capable of keeping track of a number of issues at one time.

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"Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Circulation ceases first at the outer edges [Europe and Japan]. It will take a while yet for the decay to reach the heart [America]." - Foundation & Empire by Isaac Asimov
Lowbeyond
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Micron26 wrote..
But the real issue here has been overlooked.

The medical profession has created an unnecessary hurdle to obtaining these drugs (which cost about as much to produce as aspirin) in that a prescription is required.

Really? The medical profession? What a load of crap.

The medical profession does no such thing. Government forces you go to a doctor and buy a worthless piece of paper to get these drugs.

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Maybe it was a birdy bread-bomber from the future?!
Wis/min
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Neal Boortz on the Democrat plan.

Quote:
Weren’t we all scratching our heads and wondering where that “should contraception be illegal” question came from in an early debate? Well wonder no longer. That was George Stephanopoulos lighting the fuse for the carefully crafted reproductive rights bomb the Democrats were preparing.


http://www.boortz.com/weblogs/nealz-nuze....

Mo
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There's so much wrong with the health system, that this issue is just an illustration of one problem.

From the point of view of the sex-crazed 30-something grad student: Medicare is paying for boatloads of Viagra for Gramps. Why that and not birth control?

Try telling her that only users of drugs should be paying for them, and she'll go ballistic.

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Weezie
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Here's what*****es me off about the who "debate" - that the strawman (no pun intended) argument of "the Republicans are at war with women and want to deny access" is blantently untrue.

There is no restriction on ACCESS, just a restriction on who pays for it.

I do agree with Micron, though, for a typically healthy woman there is no reason to go 2x per year for an exam, as many doctors require. Just your yearly or bi-annual exam is more than sufficient if you have low risk factors (under 35, non-smoker, consistent partner).

However, if used to treat a bona-fide condition, it should be covered given that the condition is unexpected and unplanned, the key ingredients to the purpose of insurance.

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Skip_danger
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Let's hope the 'Birthers' take this focker out before it get's any worse.
Fraudster
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Patricia Heaton got it correct, if a bit harsh:

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news....

Quote:
"Hey G-Town Gal: Plz let us also pay for your Starbucks, movie theater tickets and your favorite hot wings combo deal at KFC! Anything else?"

"Hey G-Town Gal: If your parents have to pay for your birth control, maybe they should get a say in who you sleep with! Instant birth control!"

"If every Tweaton sent Georgetown Gal one condom, her parents wouldn't have to cancel basic cable, & she would never reproduce -- sound good?"


----------
"Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Circulation ceases first at the outer edges [Europe and Japan]. It will take a while yet for the decay to reach the heart [America]." - Foundation & Empire by Isaac Asimov

Anti
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Micron, Do you know whether those pills will be confiscated at Customs when you re-enter the US? Does it maybe depend on the quantity?

I heard in the old days, Customs was trying to keep Laetrile out, when people would go to Mexico to get it.

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Splashdown
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I'm surprised how polarizing this subject has become. It's working right into Obama's hand with the female voters.

I think Peter Schiff makes a lot of good points on this subject..if you haven't already watched it, take a look.


Micron26
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Quote:
Really? The medical profession? What a load of crap.


Yes, it is a load of crap that a prescription is required by doctors.

Quote:
The medical profession does no such thing.


So...I can go buy the pill over the counter tomorrow?

Quote:
government Lobbyists for the medical/industrial complex forces you go to a doctor and buy a worthless piece of paper to get these drugs.


Happy?

Reason: typo
Lowbeyond
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Splashdown wrote..
I'm surprised how polarizing this subject has become.

Really? I am not. When people want others to steal for them, they tend to get excited.

Splashdown wrote..
It's working right into Obama's hand with the female Free **** Army voters.

FIFY. Work your way back and reduce it to a base premise on what is being asked for. It has nothing to do with females, or birth control pills or viagra or whatever - those are just details.

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KD,
You're underestimating the cost of the pills when passing through the hands of "insurance".

Any business who deals with insurance companies or, heaven forbid, a government contract knows that you'll wait months or years to get paid.

That means that you pay your suppliers for the pills and are left to hang waiting to get reimbursed. To deal with the aggravation you typically have to hire someone in your office just to deal with all the ins and outs of insurance or .gov contracts.

Meanwhile you have to borrow money to stay afloat.

It all passes to the bottom line.

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Genesis
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Of course it does.

Point being that if "everyone" wants to buy something the best way to do it is for everyone to buy it and let the market work.

ALL other forms of doing it will result in less efficiency, more graft and higher end-user cost.

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What part of "shall not be infringed" was unclear?
Flaps10
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Oh, and the little piece of paper gets worse. I've been on a medication for three years that is considered a controlled substance. My doctor can no longer write me a prescription which is refillable.

I'm forced to go to the doctor every month and get a new piece of paper. Office visit equals $150. It's tedious for him but I'm sure it was part of the health care bill to placate doctors who are otherwise being ripped off (forced to take medicare).

Since I pay my $15 copay I could easily be one of the many who says "meh". It's stupid as hell.

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"Better to die on your feet than live on your knees"
Harriska2
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OK, as a woman, when I was making $4.25 an hour on minimum wage I was happy to pay $15 a month for birth control. Of course, I had to get a physical to get them and they would only sell them one month at a time at the county health department.

Why can't they be over the counter?
Yermawm
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It may also be worth noting that birth control is qualified expense against HSA's. Open an HSA and buy your own damned drugs.

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"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." - Ayn Rand
Lowbeyond
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Hey Micron26,

Who determines what is an OTC drug or not? That would be the government. Period.

You have have a billion Lobbyists all bleeting at full song, and they have zero power to coerce you into something unless the government wishes it so.

What happens if you open up a corner drug store and sell birth control pills - or any other substance - that the State requires a prescription for over the counter ?

Do the Lobbyists for the medical/industrial complex come in steal your property and jail you ?

Nope. That would be the Government. But feel free to shift blame if it makes you feel better

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Maybe it was a birdy bread-bomber from the future?!
Xqqme
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It gets better....

from Drudge
REPORT: Sandra Fluke argued for employers to cover sex changes?

MRC....
"The title of the article, which can be purchased in full here, is Employment Discrimination Against LGBTQ Persons and was published in the Journal's 2011 Annual Review"
Mayorquimby
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Quote:
Point being that if "everyone" wants to buy something the best way to do it is for everyone to buy it and let the market work.

ALL other forms of doing it will result in less efficiency, more graft and higher end-user cost.


Tons of win in this.

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They who wish to hurt you, work within the law.
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Gold is theft.
Crzymorse
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Healthcare Industry - Pigs all feeding at the trough. I'm sure the health insurance business wants to cover birth control and bill to charge it, hence the Pelosi setup to begin with.

Imustbenutz
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J. Frank Parnell has some great things to say:

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