Obamacare Protects the Free Market: Why Repealing It Would Mean a Return to Socialism

[Eikers]

3. On free market and health care

Being a Norwegian having lived all my life with a universal tax financed health coverage, the thought of making a universal insurance based health care sounds frankly speaking rather nuts to me.

From my experience with insurance companies in general they are an unlikely mean of cutting costs for the customer. Since the main purpose of any insurance company is making money, they are generally reluctant to reducing their turnover and profit potential. They rather throw in a little more coverage than offering a less expensive insurance. Normally they tend to like having you buy the same insurance as last year for the same price adjusted for inflation.

Also I find the prices for US health insurances to be incredibly steep. I read elsewhere that the premium for a family of four is now at an incredible $20,000 a year. Allow me to compare a little. Norway has a GDP per capita of about 105% of that of the US. A Norwegian family of four would contribute financing health care through tax. For a one salary low income family that starts off at about $2,000 per year. A two salaries average income family contributes about $6,200 (out of a $133,000 household income). This pays for GI's, specialists, hospitals, recovery centers and local nursing homes or services for the elderly. Premium services can be added through voluntary insurance. Residents not paying income taxes for some reason are still fully covered.

I agree with the comments on socialism made in the article. To me the ACA seems more like some extreme handout to corporates within the health industry.