Comments on: Big Shoulders, Deep Pockets, Tightened Belts http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine/2007/11/big_shoulders_deep_pockets_tig/ the alumni magazine of Vanderbilt University Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:07:19 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Dan DeVore, BA’68 (Atlanta) http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine/2007/11/big_shoulders_deep_pockets_tig/comment-page-1/#comment-85 Dan DeVore, BA’68 (Atlanta) Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:47:07 +0000 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/magazines/vanderbilt-magazine/2007/11/big-shoulders-deep-pockets-tightened-belts/#comment-85 I found this article interesting but misdirected. Heath care in the U.S. is the best in the world thanks to facilities like Vanderbilt. The federal government is the worst place to put money decisions for my health care or anyone else’s. As a small business owner, I offer medical insurance to employees. They choose if they want it. I pay 50 percent of the premium. It is available for families, if they choose. I pay competitive prices for coverage that is better than average. I price my product and services so that I can provide this medical insurance. I also pay worker’s compensation, state medical and federal medical taxes. Nowhere in the article do you discuss the pricing of health-care products or services. Health care is the only U.S. industry I know of that is not controlled or influenced by competitive price technology. I am sorry for the suffering of individuals injured because of negligence or stupidity or carelessness. To suggest that government should pay for medical services because someone does not have health insurance is wrong. The Hippocratic Oath is clear. Doctors who take that oath are aware of what it says. I do not ask a doctor to pay for my individual judgments. Why should he ask me to pay for his? As a final point, you buried an item about “uninsurable immigrants” in the middle of the article. Prohibiting illegal immigration would reduce the burden on the health-care system. Providing health care for less than 15 percent of the population by raising taxes and wages for medical professionals who chose the profession and reducing local control of the health system makes no sense. I found this article interesting but misdirected. Heath care in the U.S. is the best in the world thanks to facilities like Vanderbilt. The federal government is the worst place to put money decisions for my health care or anyone else’s.

As a small business owner, I offer medical insurance to employees. They choose if they want it. I pay 50 percent of the premium. It is available for families, if they choose. I pay competitive prices for coverage that is better than average. I price my product and services so that I can provide this medical insurance. I also pay worker’s compensation, state medical and federal medical taxes.

Nowhere in the article do you discuss the pricing of health-care products or services. Health care is the only U.S. industry I know of that is not controlled or influenced by competitive price technology.

I am sorry for the suffering of individuals injured because of negligence or stupidity or carelessness. To suggest that government should pay for medical services because someone does not have health insurance is wrong. The Hippocratic Oath is clear. Doctors who take that oath are aware of what it says. I do not ask a doctor to pay for my individual judgments. Why should he ask me to pay for his?

As a final point, you buried an item about “uninsurable immigrants” in the middle of the article. Prohibiting illegal immigration would reduce the burden on the health-care system.

Providing health care for less than 15 percent of the population by raising taxes and wages for medical professionals who chose the profession and reducing local control of the health system makes no sense.

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