“No, no, no. No, no, no, you have it all wrong. Nobody dies. Nobody pays. Only those over $250,000.00 pay. No, no, no, it’s not true there will be rationing of care. No, no, no, we cannot wait. Hundreds of millions of Americans are suffering under weight of insurance premiums. People going broke. People not covered. People dying. People sickening. People puking in streets, losing everything. No, no, no, we have no time, no time to read 1000 pages, we, we must act quickly. Millions will die, will go broke. Will only cost $1.5 trillion. 

No, no, no, no worry about how much it costs. Cost will go down once we cover 47 million more, who losing, who suffering, who are without healthcare. They have no place to go. No doctor, no nurse, no potty. They defecate in streets as dirty as Bagdad. Everybody at risk. No, no, no, don’t worry about Grandpa and Grandma, they die soon anyway. No, no, no, not true we valuate lives based on future revenue. No, no, no, all lives treated equally under new system. No, no, no, not true we are wanting a single payer system. No way, Jose, not even true, just a little government option will be offered. We, we, we, will find savings in Medicare and Medicaid to pay for 2/3s, 2/3s of new system. 

I know, I know, you say Amtrak never made money, Post Office loses money, Highway & Bridge Trust fund broke, Medicare and Medicaid going broke, Social Security will go broke, but we can do this, this is real hope for suffering people. But we must act fast, do it now, buy it now, good deal for you. Just a little more money and you get everything you want.”

Everything?

"Everything."

Really.

Dr. K, from my corner of Main Street

The Principles of Selling

Let’s see now, Amtrak loses money. The Post Office loses money. The road and bridge trust fund is empty and must be subsidized by congressional appropriations. Medicare and Medicaid are rapidly going broke and the Social Security Trust fund has been plundered for God knows what and will soon be facing the tsunami of retiring Baby Boomers. So now, the all-knowing representatives and senators and the President want government run health care. This is not about insuring 46 million uninsured residents or providing healthcare for them. This is about what government wants for itself, to control our healthcare system. 

They will use the crying or sentimental sale. Don’t you want to provide health insurance and health care for those 46 million who currently don’t have it? No. That’s their problem and not mine. Besides they already have access to healthcare through community clinics. And the program wouldn’t include all 46 million anyway. 

Then comes the, how can we live without it sell. Things will get much worse without healthcare reform. We have to do it now. Prices and insurance premiums will go up and force people out of affordable health insurance. Really, well why don’t we wait a few years and see? Are 46 million people going to drop dead in the streets if healthcare reform doesn’t pass? No. Are they going to revolt in the streets if they don’t get health insurance? No. Is this going to cause a national security crisis if they don’t get health insurance? No. Will there be huge cost overruns and huge deficits and debt if we do pass healthcare reform? YES!

Then follows, the blackmail or Chicago twisting arm sell. But we worked so hard on this. We expended a lot of energy to provide this opportunity. We’re so close to providing everything. How can you reject it now? Because I have a right to say: No. It’s going to cost too much money and most people who already have health insurance are satisfied with what they have. Why should Americans be sold on something most already have?

The Hard Sell

I don’t know how many times I encountered the “Hard Sell,” where the seller really wants the sale, for what ever reason, commission, profit, not take a loss, or too big of a loss. The seller pressures the buyer to buy.  A few times in my purchasing career I fell for the hard sell. Usually, I was disappointed with the result. It turned out I had purchased something I really didn’t want, or it wasn’t of the quality I wanted, or I didn’t get anything for my money. I am reminded of the door-to-door magazine schemes.  The hard sell is really all about the pressure placed upon the seller to sell and tranferring that pressure to the buyer, making him feel he is missing out on a bargain that may not be there tomorrow.

So, the more the seller talks, the more I tighten my defensive posture. Why? To protect myself from buying something I don’t need, want, or can’t afford. Don’t write a check that you will later have to stop payment on. Don’t buy in the first place. There is always tomorrow. And the seller will still be there with his B.S. But there comes a point of diminishing returns for the seller to keep selling, repeating his spiel to make the sale, until finally, the target market gets bored, irritated, and finally disgusted with the never ending spiel. “Hi, I’m Billy Mays, and I’d like to share with you the most amazing HEALTHCARE REFORM EVER INVENTED BY POLITICIANS! IT SLICES, IT DICES, IT CURES EVERYTHING, UNLESS YOU’RE OLD AND THEN WE HAVE A CREMATION PLAN FOR YOU!  AND, THIS IS THE BEST PART, IT DOESN'T COST YOU ANYTHING AND YOU GET TO KEEP WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE!”

Really.  Then why are you trying to sell it to me?  And what do YOU get out of it?  And why is there so much pressure placed upon me to buy something I already have?  Or if I don't want it, why should I be forced to buy it?

Health Insurance Cost from my former employer from my W-2 statements and end of year salary statements, 1999-2008. The rise in cost does not appear to reflect a HEALTHCARE CRISIS.

Average Annual Salary $42,000.00

1999 Medical for the year: $432.96 for an individual

1999 Dental for the year: $59.04 for an individual

2000 Medical for the year: $464. 40 for an individual

2000 Dental for the year: $84.00 for an individual

2001 Medical for the year: 505.20 for an individual

2001 Dental for the year: 92.40 for an individual

2002 Medical for the year: $272.00 for an individual

2002 Dental for the year: $92.40 for an individual

2003 Medical for the year: $360.00 for an individual

2003 Dental for the year: $162.00 for an individual

2004 Medical for the year: $378.00 for an individual

2004 Dental for the year: $174.00 for an individual

2005 Medical for the year: $410.40 for an individual

2005 Dental for the year: $184.80 for an individual

2006 Medical for the year: $439.20 for an individual

2006 Dental for the year: $216.00 for an individual

2007 Medical for the year: $480.00 for an individual

2007 Dental for the year: $168.00.00 for an individual

2008 Medical for the year: $520.00 for an individual

2008 Dental for the year: $210.00 for an individual

2008 figures are a projection since my job was off-shored and my severance did not collect medical and dental insurance for the second half of 2008.

I now have no health or dental insurance and I have not been to the doctor or the dentist in 2009. But I see no crisis here. The cost over a ten-year period was very reasonable for an individual. I cannot speak for the cost of a couple or a family. Somebody is lying about this so called health care CRISIS.

Dr. K