Can National healthcare ever work? Maybe, but as currently envisioned, there is a Single- Payer plan that would bankrupt America. It would collapse consumer spending because everyone’s taxes would be so high that few people would have disposable income. The medical industry would consume consumer spending to the detriment of all other industries, especially non-essentials like Arts & Entertainment, Sports, Hobbies, Travel, Dining, Home Improvements, and all varieties of Consumer Goods.

You don’t see those industries leading the charge against Single-Payer, do you? That’s because very few people understand the economy.

I know the economy because I’ve been in home improvement sales for 13 years. Prior to that, I sold copiers for Konica-Minolta for 5 years. I have met and negotiated contracts with a few thousand customers, both consumers and small businesses. I have heard every economic pain imaginable that is an objection to signing a contract. Some I keep hearing again and again, and others only once in a while. This allows me to gage the impact of various economic pains. I understand the economy. I really do.

People are being drained of their money by taxes and by a few select industries, which are Banking, Housing, Insurance, Day Care, College, and Medical. As money is consumed by those industries, there is no money left for people to spend on all other industries. Lets start explaining the economy here >>> many people understand the concept of living paycheck to paycheck. Just take it a step further, and ask: Do people spend a lot when they are living paycheck to paycheck? The answer is no. And if they don’t spend, what happens to the economy?

When I was on the verge of eviction and bankruptcy, I sat down and revised my budget. I reduced my spending by $800 in monthly costs on various industries. I even cut loose my girlfriend at the time, as she was the cause of too much consumer spending by me. Poor xoxoxo, oh well. It was great while it lasted. I then looked at the list I made, and reflected: “Wow, if everyone does this, how will those industries survive?” I was squeezed out of existence by rising housing costs and fees on credit cards. Essential services like housing, left unregulated, will always rob other industries of consumer spending. That was economics lesson #1.

There is no end to the rise in housing costs, anywhere and everywhere within easy commuting distance of high-paying jobs. Whether or not the renters in a given neighborhood have those high-paying job is not a factor in the amount that an apartment will rent for. The asking price for housing in dense urban areas is not set by the basic economic equation of supply and demand for the neighborhoods affected. In an unregulated environment, the cost of any essential service will rise beyond the ability of most people to pay. That was economics lesson #2.

If utilities like water and electricity were not regulated, prices would rise to the point that one third or more of the average family’s income would go to utilities. Perhaps activists would start demanding a socialist solution in which government subsidies the consumer’s utility cost? But that would never be the answer for me. The obvious answer would be for the utilities to be regulated and the costs kept down. That is why utilities are regulated.

Nobody except the biggest fool alive would call for utilities to be deregulated. Everyone would instantly understand exactly what would happen to consumer spending on all other industries if utilities were deregulated. Yet, this is exactly what has been happening with other essential services, such as Medical, Day Care, and Housing. Those costs are consuming everyone’s disposable income, to the detriment of consumer spending on all other industries. Hello “other industries”, are you out there. You really need to start fighting
this battle.

When essential services are unregulated, costs rise to crushing levels. The result, ultimately, is that more and more people wind up on government assistance. The victims are not simply the people; the victims are all other industries that are being robbed of consumer spending.

We hope this is an epiphany to many readers. If so, you are starting to understand Economic Populism, and how Economic Populism is actually about protecting and optimizing capitalism for all non-essential industries. It is as far from Socialism as possible. Optimizing capitalism is like the conductor of an orchestra doing his thing. There is no reason why the United States can’t have 10% GDP growth per year for at least a decade, as there is so much held-back potential. Our economy is like a compressed spring.

Contrary to popular opinion, government regulation and socialism are profoundly different solutions. They are actually opposite approaches. Regulating utilities is not socialism, regulating housing is not socialism, and regulating medical costs is not socialism.

This lead-in to a discussion on medical had to start with housing and utilities, because medical is also “essential”.

Medical costs, if not regulated, will simply inflate in an insane way, exactly as they have done. Medical costs are not set by a supply and demand equation, as if someone is buying a flat screen TV or deciding what restaurant to visit. The laissez-faire approach to consumer protection works for non-essentials, but it is a total fail whenever the product or service is essential. That is economics lesson #3.

The answer to the medical cost crisis is not a Socialist solution in which the government (the taxpayer) subsidies most people’s medical costs, without controlling the costs. Economic Populism is all about consumer protection.

National Healthcare cannot be set up as a golden business plan for the medical industry, insurance, and lawyers. The Socialists will simply make a deal with those industries, and the consumers will be shafted.

The very last thing that most industries want is government regulation, and they’ll actually prefer Socialism over government regulation, because Socialism still allows them to charge as much as they want for everything, and then the government simply picks up the tab for a whole lot of people, and then taxes everyone to death to pay for it. Industry doesn’t care, as long as they can maximize their profits.

Notice how day care costs in many States have tripled or quadrupled in 20 years. The high majority of families with children are poor or working class, and the government is subsidizing their day care costs, which is pure Socialism. Therefore, the providers of day care can charge whatever they want, and they don’t care that some middle class families who don’t qualify for government assistance can’t afford day care. If they charged less to get the business of the middle class, they would make much less from the government subsidies on the poor and working class children. It would not be a net game for them. When too many people are subsidized by Socialists programs, it destroys the supply and demand equation, and results in escalating costs. That is economics lesson #4

The day care cost crisis is keeping a lot of spouses from working, and that is tremendously holding back economic growth as well as tax revenue to government. Socialism most harms the people and families just above the income level to qualify for the government subsidies. That has been me for my entire adult life.

The Medical, Legal, and Insurance industries effectively own our State and Federal legislators. If our elected officials are asked to set up a National Healthcare system, it will be set up as “single-payer” to the interests of those industries, not to the interests of the consumers.

But, is there a way to make a National Healthcare system work? I dare to push this envelope. I give the following conditions to possibly bring National Healthcare into the realm of Economic Populism:

(1) It must guarantee patients access to all technology and medicine that has come OFF OF PATENT. This is necessary for cost purposes.

(2) Patents for all medical equipment and medicine shall only last 15 years.

(3) The system must preserve the market for people with money that want to buy the best possible care. Those higher-income people will pay for their own services out of pocket, but shall also be subsidized the equivalent amount that their care would have cost if it were part of national healthcare (meaning if it was entirely technology and medicine that has come off of patent) So they would pay the difference to get better care, and that is fair on multiple counts. There has to be a system that encourages advances in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, and there has to be a system in which people can buy better
quality care. The Socialist notion that EVERYONE is entitled to the same care, and the best possible care, has to be thrown out before any national healthcare system is adopted.

(4) Non-profit corporations must be set up to deliver basic medical care in the form of community clinics. These can be quasi-associated with every hospital, and with additional locations.

(5) Hospitals must have to right to deny Emergency Room admissions to patients with minor knee scrapes; mosquito bites, sniffles, etc., and instead refer them to the community clinics. These are preferably within walking distance. This will stop cold the ongoing and tremendous abuse of the system. Sorry ‘mam, your 7 year daughter can be treated at the local clinic for that stuffy nose. She doesn’t need an ER admission, and we the taxpayers are not going to tolerate that abuse of the system.

(6) Tort reform. Massive tort reform is needed to reduce costs for hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, and even day care. That will reign in on excesses of the insurance industry and the greedy law firms at the same time. People are not entitled to $100 million dollar settlements, no matter how they have been mistreated or wronged. We laugh and smile when we read about those crazy legal judgments, but nobody stops to think how it is hitting their pocketbook.

(7) Reign in on the excesses of big pharma. If the same medicine is one-third the cost in Canada, or one-thirtieth the cost in India, there’s a big problem. The industry needs to be read the riot act, and if they don’t fall in line, much stronger government regulation must be enacted

(8) Collective enrollment by State. Wal-Mart gets way better bulk rates for their employees than a small business with 65 employees. And if you are an individual entrepreneur, or self- employed in some fashion, you are paying way more than the employer with 65 employees. All of this is grossly unfair, and it is a tremendous deterrent to starting a small business. It is against the spirit of capitalism, and it is literally holding back economic growth.. Why can’t an entire State enroll its residents, as if it were Wal-Mart? If so, the residents would get a phenomenal bulk rate. What I’m saying is that if there is going to be “single-payer”, it has to be by State. The federal government is already too big, too powerful.

(9) Medical coverage must include Worker’s Compensation for job-related injuries. I dealt with Worker Compensation providers for years. They are totally unreasonable to work with. They demand full payment for the year up front, and then subject contractors to horrific audits. They demand over 20 cents for every dollar paid to a worker, which is simply insane. The higher they raise their rates, the more contractors pay their workers off the books, causing them to raise their rates even higher. There is no solution, other than to eliminate Worker’s Compensation insurance, and consolidate it with national healthcare.

(10) Cover pre-existing conditions. This won’t be so costly if recommendations #1 and #2 are in effect.

(11) Cover dental. Human teeth are connected to various organs and body parts in a system similar to acupuncture. This means that if a tooth is unhealthy, it causes illnesses elsewhere in the body. In addition, root canal is extremely dangerous because it leaves miles of rotting blood vessels in the tooth, causing various major illnesses. It is nonsense to cover everyone’s medical costs, but not cover teeth, when teeth are the cause of so many medical problems.

(12) Much higher food ingredient standards. 75% of Americans have diabetes or pre- diabetes, and this is all related to the composition of our food. I know that some die-hard Republicans are phenomenally opposed to government setting food standards. Well, those Republicans are not supporters of Economic Populism. There’s room in the Party for discussion on economic reforms.

(13) Unessential cosmetic procedures should not be covered, including gender reassignment surgery and cosmetic surgery, but something like a cleft lip would qualify. Some standards need to be established as to what is vanity and optional, and what is not.

This is not an endorsal of National Healthcare, but merely a set of provisions that must be adopted before there is any discussion about bringing it under the umbrella of government. It’s all about consumer protection. There cannot even be a discussion about National Healthcare or State Healthcare without a laser focus on consumer protection and cost cutting across the board. Currently, our public policy makers are not even close to this focus. Therefore, I cannot support Single Payer at this time.