With much sadness, we must correct the Motor City Madman.
Nugent writes in a Washington Times commentary:
The Internet is full of health-related studies and articles. Most of them provide similar, age-old wisdom: Eat right, exercise and don’t smoke. There are no guarantees, but following this timeless advice generally leads to a longer, healthier life.
All of us have heard this and read it countless times, yet there remains a segment of the American public who would rather shovel junk into their mouths and sit on the couch than follow a healthy lifestyle. When these Americans become ill, they want others to pay for their health care, which is a key reason why America is broke and in debt.
We live in a La-La Land entitlement society where poor choices are condoned and rewarded and individual responsibility and accountability are largely ignored by the bloodsuckers who want the rich to “pay their fair share.” Unbelievable… [Emphasis added]
A few points:
- Who would have thought that Ted Nugent is part of the nanny state, condemning people who don’t follow whatever he means by “healthy lifestyle”?
- We doubt that anyone shoveling junk food into their mouths while lounging on a couch is thinking, “I can do this because I’ve got Obamacare.”
- American is broke an in debt because Left-wing activists and pandering politicians have saddled America with various budget-busting entitlement programs.
- The cost of health care is out-of-control not because people don’t live “healthy lifestyles,” but rather because there are no personal or market constraints on the provision of health care services.
- Moreover, whether you die and 65 or at 90, the cost of end-of-life medical care is high. On a societal basis, however, it’s probably less expensive for you to die at 65 than 90 because of the benefits payouts foregone by an earlier death.
Ted, we heart you, but that riff is wrong.
Mr. Malloy, I’m calling B.S. on you for this one. Nugent’s column clearly states his view on limited government citing Thomas Jefferson: ““Most bad government has grown out of too much government.” “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” And Reagan: “Government isn’t the solution; it’s the problem.”
He has always advocated healthy life style choices (including copious quantities of red meat – mostly harvested from nature).
His column was clearly a slam on the entitlement OWS type of person in America, i.e., the 47 percenters who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions.
Nugent is a staunch individual-liberty/individual-responsibility libertarian. Always has been. He is clearly not for the nanny state. You owe Uncle Ted an open apology. I would do that before he kicks your arse.
I’m skeptical of your assertions about Blue Cross.
Health insurance became ubiquitous after The Cause of the Great Depression,
FDR, instituted wage controls in 1943. Companies provided health insurance in
lieu of pay raises.
BC wasn’t founded until 1960. And “Blue Cross came into being because
hospitals had a hard time collecting on their bills” sounds teleological to
me.
Coach, your comment made me chuckle. As an ex-smoker of almost seven years, I still tell everyone that if they announced that a sizeable asteroid was going to hit the earth in a week, the first thing I’d do is buy a carton of cigarettes – Camel straights, no filter.
Mr. Hudnell is correct about medical insurance not being insurance at all, although that is an overstatement. Blue Cross came into being because hospitals had a hard time collecting on their bills. First it is hard to collect from dead in bed patients. Why should I pay for Dad’s operation? He died! Second it is hard to repo on an appendage operation. You can’t put the appendage back! Blue Cross was a way to finance the community asset of a hospital through prepayment. Group contracts through large employers provided for high rates of coverage and permitted the socialization of costs. Many women jobs did not have health insurance benefits because ladies would be covered under their husband’s benefit.
Family structure and worker attachment to an employer has changed so much to mess up the beautiful system that covered my dad’s family. Competition for Heath Insurance was a disaster as companies competed on their expensive ability to underwrite.
ACA or ObamaCare is actually pretty good. It even helped patients make rational decisions about terminal care. “Healthy Lifestyle” is mostly hype. Joggers need knee replacements for example.
I quit smoking two years ago. I called it my early retirement, short/long-term care plan. Faced wth the prospect of a longer life amidst the nannies, it’s not a win-win situation. There’s such a thing as quality of life and nagging, coerced and mandated conformity is a net minus as well as an unnecessary intrusion.
Now I tell everyone that I will start smoking again the minute I go to assisted living or nursing home. Not that they’ll let me by then. Fat Tuesday’s coming up – Power to the Paczkis (Punchkis).
Every person has a bias and an opinion, it’s human nature, we all think we know what’s best. But when that leaches away from the nucleus of self and family, and we begin to invade our neighbors homes and pass judgement over them with our opinions turned to “we know best’ rules then we no longer respect the rights and freedoms of others and become that which we loath: the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do control freaks. Not everyone who doesn’t exercise becomes obese. Some of it is just plain genetics. Some people have hormone or thyroid conditions that they are unaware of. Many doctors don’t look for and cure causes they treat symptoms that is the by-product of crony capitalism and why Big Pharma embraces Obamacare. Image Al Gore jetting his way across the world and telling the rest of us to buy a smart car while he’s whisked away from the many airports he arrives at in an air conditioned, leather upholstered SUV, or Nancy Pelosi screaming about conserving water while her vineyards never thirst, or the Obamas desire to see us all eat arugula while they dine on Maine lobster. Yeah, I get the point Steve is trying to make – even the freedom loving Nuge isn’t above falling for telling others how to live. We all trip and fall sometimes.
# The cost of health care is out-of-control not because people don’t live “healthy lifestyles,” but rather because there are no personal or market constraints on the provision of health care services.
This is mostly true. Market constraints have been removed by “medical
insurance,” which isn’t insurance at all – it’s a third-party payer system.
Marketplace sanity could be regained quickly if it were made to be
insurance. This can be effected by the very simple measure of requiring
a high deductible, like $4,000 per year. Insurance should be to mitigate
risk of catastrophic loss, not to pay for your doctor visit.
Some of the high cost is due to companies’ expense developing new,
effective treatments for many ailments. That should be considered a
good thing.
# Moreover, whether you die and 65 or at 90, the cost of end-of-life medical care is high. On a societal basis, however, it’s probably less expensive for you to die at 65 than 90 because of the benefits payouts foregone by an earlier death.
This is an extremely important point. Dying at 65 of what otherwise would have
killed you at 90 SAVES 25 years of medical costs, a very large number!
Smoking SAVES medical cost.
The really egregious thing to me is the Governments’ absolute insistence
that it pays peoples’ medical bills, then gripes incessantly about how much
it costs. You would not keep a friend who behaved this way. The answer is
for Government to stop paying peoples’ medical bills. It ain’t their job.
In fairness to Ted, while his introduction is incomplete therefore muddling the message, his opinion is anti-nanny and favors smaller government.