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February 01, 2006
State of the Union -- Health Care
The pre-State-of-the-Union mill was rife with rumors that President Bush was going to make expanded Medical Savings Account the centerpiece of his domestic reform agenda. Alas, health care reform got barely two grafs in his hour-long address.
In these, Bush lamented the sky-rocketing cost of entitlements – conveniently ignoring that he himself ushered in the biggest increase in entitlement spending in the past four decades by pushing for free prescription drug coverage for Medicare seniors.
Be that as it may, Bush touted the wonders of MSAs because, like corporations, they would allow individuals to purchase health coverage from their pre-tax dollars, thereby leveling the playing field between individuals and companies. In addition, MSAs would attach coverage to individuals, not employers, making it more portable.
But there is a better way – to use the words of Virginia’s Governor Tim Kaine – to achieve these objectives: Abolish the health care tax breaks for employers and give them to employees or individuals instead.
Arguably, competition between insurance companies will be even more intense if they have to compete for the business of individuals – as opposed to companies – simply because there are so many more of them. Also, individuals are likely to be more prudent shoppers than corporations that have too much money and too little purchasing accountability (anybody who has worked at a large corporation knows that $1,000 toilet seats and hammers are not just a Pentagon phenomenon). More savvy shoppers will bring down health insurance costs for all and control national health care spending.
So how about it Rebel-in-Chief? A man who can plant democracy in a centuries-old dictatorship abroad can certainly fix ridiculous distortions in his own country’s tax code? Why settle for half-measures like MSAs when you can conquer the whole messed-up health care system?
Posted by shikhad at February 1, 2006 10:39 AM
The problem of reception Medical and health insurance for unemployeds interests WBR LeoP
Comment by: Leo at January 20, 2007 01:34 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten73749 at January 26, 2007 07:53 AM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten15720 at January 26, 2007 09:51 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten82633 at January 27, 2007 09:04 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten72008 at January 27, 2007 11:32 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten77633 at January 28, 2007 06:34 PM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten11798 at January 28, 2007 07:59 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten24156 at January 28, 2007 10:49 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten50898 at January 29, 2007 02:19 AM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten95058 at January 29, 2007 04:08 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten24135 at January 29, 2007 06:44 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten13000 at January 30, 2007 12:33 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten10399 at January 30, 2007 02:04 AM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten6809 at January 30, 2007 07:43 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten14621 at January 30, 2007 09:39 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten58398 at January 30, 2007 10:14 PM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten83583 at February 1, 2007 05:31 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten4117 at February 1, 2007 08:18 AM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten47845 at February 1, 2007 12:28 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten82023 at February 1, 2007 10:31 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten61071 at February 2, 2007 02:06 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten37169 at February 2, 2007 03:42 AM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten84520 at February 2, 2007 01:52 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten68558 at February 3, 2007 05:44 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten64770 at February 3, 2007 10:49 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten20913 at February 4, 2007 02:13 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten92673 at February 4, 2007 03:20 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten66796 at February 4, 2007 06:45 AM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten83398 at February 4, 2007 12:04 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten20402 at February 4, 2007 11:03 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten85311 at February 5, 2007 04:50 AM
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I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.
Comment by: Sten60872 at February 5, 2007 09:54 AM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten52246 at February 5, 2007 09:17 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten69259 at February 6, 2007 12:00 AM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten43480 at February 6, 2007 03:28 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten36632 at February 6, 2007 07:57 AM
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