Think Obamacare, Think Trabant

The Obamacare rollout, with the dysfunctional "Healthcare.gov" as the star of the show, reminds me of another service a government tried to roll out in competition with the private sector: transportation.

Specifically, the 1975 Trabant.

No, I was not around back then and definitely not in Germany (nor have I been east of the Atlantic Ocean), but everything I've read about Obamacare reminds me of Communism's answer to the Volkswagen Beetle.

The car has been on numerous "all time worst lists." It was also created under a communist regime.

Like free healthcare in socialist countries, you couldn't outright buy a Trabant. You had to apply for one and get put on a wait list:

For all its shortcomings, the Trabant 601 became highly sought-after in Eastern Europe, and buying one (prospective owners did not order their new Trabant; they applied for it) involved joining a waiting list that could last up to 18 years.

Not all things related to the Trabant are bad. But neither are all things related to Obamacare. The bad, as always, outweighed the good. The Trabant has symbolic value. So will Obamacare.

As Wikipedia puts it, "the Trabant is often cited as an example of the disadvantages of centralized planning; on the other hand, it is also regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the failed former East Germany and of the fall of communism (in former West Germany, as many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989). 

The open-source entry continues: "It was in production without any significant changes for nearly 30 years, with 3,096,099 Trabants produced in total."

Talk about a lack of innovation.

 Here is what a Time writer wrote about the Trabant in Time's 50 Worst Cars of All Time feature:

This is the car that gave Communism a bad name. Powered by a two-stroke pollution generator that maxed out at an ear-splitting 18 hp, the Trabant was a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness (actually, the body was made of a fiberglass-like Duroplast, reinforced with recycled fibers like cotton and wood). A virtual antique when it was designed in the 1950s, the Trabant was East Germany's answer to the VW Beetle — a "people's car," as if the people didn't have enough to worry about. Trabants smoked like an Iraqi oil fire, when they ran at all, and often lacked even the most basic of amenities, like brake lights or turn signals. But history has been kind to the Trabi. Thousands of East Germans drove their Trabants over the border when the Wall fell, which made it a kind of automotive liberator. Once across the border, the none-too-sentimental Ostdeutschlanders immediately abandoned their cars. Ich bin Junk!

A Conservative Icon Wrote This? F.A. Hayek on Compulsory Health Care

Sounding like Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama wrapped in one, the conservative--not libertarian--intellectual Friedrich Hayek pretty much defends the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature legislative "achievement" in the realm of health.

Via GaryNorth.com:

"There is little doubt that the growth of health insurance is a desirable development. And perhaps there is also a case for making it compulsory since many who could thus provide for themselves might otherwise become a public charge. But there are strong arguments against a single scheme for state insurance; there seems to be an overwhelming case against a free health service for all." -- F. A. Hayek.

Hayek wrote this on page 298 of his magnum opus, The Constitution of Liberty (1960). We could put this another way.

This isn't about putting government in charge of your health insurance; it's about putting you in charge of your health insurance. Under the reforms we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.

These words may sound familiar. They are from President Obama's 2009 speech calling on Congress to pass ObamaCare.

And this little nugget from North (not Hayek) here:

HAYEK WAS A CONSERVATIVE, NOT A LIBERTARIAN

Hayek was much closer to conservatives than to libertarians. He was much closer to Russell Kirk than he was to Murray Rothbard. Neither Kirk nor Hayek believed in economic law. They both rejected the idea on the same basis, namely, their commitment to some form of social evolution. Each of them would come down on the side of free-market institutions, for they did not trust the operations of state bureaucracies, but always on the basis of a pragmatic argument that society had chosen these free market institutions voluntarily. Then the question arises: "How can we stop the state from invading and capturing the institutions of society?" Or this: "How can we stop the politicizing of social institutions by the state?" Hayek had no philosophical answer, and neither did Kirk.

 F.A. Hayek: Obamacare's Defender || GaryNorth

Priceless Author Asks Why People Aren't Signing Up for Medicaid

John Goodman on the disconnect in the health care reform discussion:

Consider this:

· About one in every four individuals who are eligible for Medicaid in this country has not bothered to enroll.
· About one in five employees who are offered employer-provided health insurance turns it down; among workers under 30 years of age, the refusal rate is almost one in three.

Think about that for a moment.

Millions of people are turning down (Medicaid) health insurance, even though it’s free! Millions of others are turning down their employers’ offers. Since employees pay about 27% of the cost of their health insurance, on the average, millions of workers are passing up the opportunity to buy health insurance for 27 cents on the dollar.

You almost never read statistics like these in the mainstream media. Why? Because they completely undermine health policy orthodoxy: the belief that health insurance (even Medicaid) is economically very valuable, that it improves health and saves lives, and that the main reason why people don’t have it is that they can’t afford it.

Welcome to the huge disconnect in health reform.

Why The White House is Panicking About Obamacare || Forbes

An Excerpt from Thomas Sowell: The Economics of Medical Care

The Economics of Medical Care || Thomas Sowell

Weekly Health Review, Vol. 11

A new study says that oral sex (fellatio) cures pregnant women's morning sickness, CBS DC reports.

The CBO released a report saying that 30 million Americans will still be without health insurance by 2020, CNSNews.com reports.

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter said that as a result of the Affordable Care Act the company will have to raise prices, POLITCO reports.

A new study by economists say that healthcare costs can be curbed best by a market approach, Kaiser Health News reports.

Samaritan Ministries recently posted links contained in their August Newsletter, including a commentary from Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute on understanding the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act.

Weekly Health Review, Vol. 7

Editor's Note: The Goins Report did not publish a Weekly Health Review last week and resumes publication this week.

Health Care Miscellany

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) published a series of videos discussing the health care law and the Supreme Court's decision.

Ohio, New York, and Caifornia lawmakers are pushing for a ban on smoking in public on college campuses, the Associated Press reports.

The mother of all Big Macs is being sold at the 2012 Olympic Games, the Associated Press reports.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued guidelines on obesity, the Associated Press reports.

Free aids tests at Drug stores planned by CDC, the Associated Press reports.

The President left out vital information about the highest risk group when touting National HIV Testing day, CNSNews.com reports.

A young Italian mother postpones cancer treatment to save the life of her child, LifeSiteNews.com reports.

The Health Care Law is Upheld

The Hill newspaper notes that the ruling allowed Justice Roberts to avoid repercussions that both sides -- liberals and conservatives -- feared, namely, striking down the law and expanding Congress's powers. It also noted that the five SCOTUS Justices were the first in the country to side with the Obama administrations tax argument.

Politico notes that Thursday's decision settles the constitutional question of whether the government can force people to buy health insurance or not.

Bloomberg notes that companies, medical device makers, and wealthy investors face $813 billion dollars in taxes over 10 years, with the largest fees taken next year in 2013. It also notes that if the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2012, wealthy taxpayers' now-15 percent top rate on long-term capital gains and dividends would reach 20 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively.

A council of churches hails the Supreme Courts decision to uphold the 2010 Healthcare law as Constitutional, the blog Juicy Ecumenism reports.

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the law makes President Obama a "monumental liar," CNSNews.com reports.

Health reform means new taxes, new fees, and new penalties, CNN Money reports.

After SCOTUS upholding of PPACA, a conservative lawyer says that Obama's vision of "fundamentally" transforming America was fulfilled, CNSNews.com reports.

Free Download: What Has Government Done To Our Healthcare?

Weekly Health Review, Vol. 5

46-year-old man cured of AIDS, ABC News reports.

A liberal Massachusetts democrat is worried about tainted seafood caught in San Diego, The Hill reports.

The White House threatens to veto Republican bill that will lower taxes on medical manufacturers, the Associated Press reports.

Students face premium increases or no coverage at all in the coming 2012-2013 academic school year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Health and Human Services secretary touts ACA's benefits to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, The Hill reports.

A new smart drug targets cancerous cells and spares healthy ones, the Associated Press reports.

Gonorrhea is becoming more resistant to drugs, experts say, the Associated Press reports.

Weekly Health Review, Vol. 4

Editor's Note: The Goins Report did not publish a "Weekly Health Review" last week.

A patient found out late that her $6,707 CT scan would have cost $1,054 without insurance, the LA Times reports.

Doctors say kids eating detergent packs on the rise, the Associated Press reports.

Study says living together before marriage is not a good predictor of divorce as it used to be, the Associated Press reports.