It has been 15 years since I had dental insurance through work. At the time my dental coverage cost $34 a month and had a $250 deductible. It provided one free teeth cleaning per year with routine dental care paid at 85%. Oral surgery, crowns and root canal procedures were covered at 50%. The maximum benefit was $2,500 a year as I recall. My dentist wouldn’t even take it. The next year I dropped coverage because it wasn’t worth the $408 annual cost.
Author: Devon Herrick
NYT: Are Supervised Drug-Use Facilities the Answer to Drug Overdoses?
Let’s assume there is a risky product, of which the government wants to discourage consumption. The good is dangerous, not infrequently killing people accidentally. The substance is of dubious quality, highly regulated yet poorly made and inconsistent. The products within this category are mislabeled, misbranded and often adulterated with harmful chemicals and other additives. Yet, these goods are popular among some people, becoming habit forming both psychological and physiological. The goods are blamed for social ills, including crime, homelessness, shiftlessness, poor health and even death. How should government discourage consumption of products like this? I’m talking about illegal drugs of course.
A Bogus Way to Reduce Medical Debt
I’ve written about medical debt in the past, explaining that not all medical debt is bad. However, medical debt is growing due to Obamacare. I’ve also explained that medical debt has many causes and it’s not always a lack of money. People sometimes refuse to pay because they think their bill is wrong (it often is). Or patients don’t pay outstanding bills because they believe their health plan is liable for the balance. This is just my opinion, but I suspect some outstanding medical debts are because patients think the bill is unfair.
Should We Spend Our Entire GDP on Health Care?
How much medical care does society owe Americans that they could not otherwise afford? It’s not a philosophical question, such as how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. This question plays out every day.