Continuing from Part 1...
Perhaps the most obvious sign of weakness, Obama’s healthcare proposal specifically ignores the number one problem with healthcare in America – cost. Providing greater access to medical insurance falls short of fixing the crisis in healthcare.
Obama’s proposal is fundamentally no different than Bush’s because in the end, taxpayers subsidize the excessive profits of the industry.
Similar to presidents before him, Obama’s remedy can be likened to trying to put out a large fire with a blanket. In the beginning, it will look like the fire has been contained. But soon after, the blanket will only make the problem worse. It’s the same manner by which Obama has dealt with the economy. Soon we will see the effects of these reckless policies. Most likely, the media will continue to praise Obama as they did Greenspan. Later they’ll have to eat their own words, as is often the case.
Until the healthcare industry is held to cost controls, spending for medical services will continue its ramped growth, threatening the long-term prospects for America’s economy.
But cost controls comprise only a small part of the answer. The complete solution has many components. Despite the backlash from the insurance industry for Obama’s proposed insurance exchange, the fact is that it really isn’t going to do much. Yet, he has convinced his allies and most consumers that it will.
It seems apparent to me that it’s impossible for a truly competitive situation to exist between private and pubic insurers. As they have been doing for decades, private insurers will find ways to cheat the system, shifting less healthy individuals into government-run insurance and defrauding public healthcare.
To be clear, the insurance industry must be regulated at the federal level. I will not go into this point any further because it would consume too much space, but consider this. All insurance companies are financial firms. They invest their cash flows in the stock and bond markets. AIG should serve as an example of what can happen when you allow an insurance company to be regulated primarily at the state level.
Part of the solution to America’s healthcare crisis includes providing basic coverage for every American. One option to achieve this would be to establish a single-payer system, otherwise known as universal healthcare. The cost savings alone from the elimination of massive overhead from the private system would slash costs by up to $350 billion per year. Many additional costs would also decline, as the system is streamlined and held to strict measures of accountability.
But we certainly would not want to eliminate the private insurers. They would serve a important role by offering medical services above and beyond those provided by a universal system. Those who can afford private insurance could exclude themselves from the government plan altogether. These changes would provide sufficient business to keep the private insurance system alive.
No doubt, many jobs would be lost from universal healthcare; jobs that were subsidized by excessive healthcare costs. Similar to the financial industry, America’s healthcare industry is bloated and has formed a bubble of sorts. In this case, it’s a bubble of contingent liabilities and employment. We need to cut the fat and improve efficiency. This is the only chance we have.
Universal healthcare would be the least costly and easiest route towards fixing America’s healthcare crisis, but it’s not the only option. That’s quite fortunate because I do not see universal healthcare as a reality anytime soon. The healthcare lobbyists are simply too numerous and powerful in Washington.
In fact, I do not see free trade being restructured adequately until lobbyist activities have been banned. And that simply isn’t going to happen. Hell, Washington hasn’t even indicted the banking executives for fraud. Instead, these criminals are using taxpayer money for undeserved bonuses. If I didn’t know better, I’d think America had become a banana republic. No matter how you look at it, no one can deny that America has been transformed into crony capitalism.
America’s healthcare crisis also has a free market solution. But many changes will be needed to align healthcare within free market dynamics because as it stands today, America’s healthcare system does not bear much resemblance to the free markets.
There are several other changes needed to fix healthcare. Besides radical policy change which would address problems with the FDA and the food industry, America’s healthcare must transform itself into the information age. Telemedicine offers a huge amount of direct savings. Perhaps more important, it positions consumers to be more accountable for their health. This will help realign healthcare to operate under real free market dynamics instead of industry collusion.
But we must be very careful that politicians do not position telemedicine as a turn-key solution because it isn’t. Without proper policy change, regulation and accountability, no improvements will help.
While it is impossible to know for certain what this all means for investors, the healthcare industry is unlikely to deliver the tremendous returns of past years. This is especially true for drug makers. But we should not be a nation that caters to investors. We need a healthcare system that provides a reasonable assurance of medical assistance to our citizens so that we can be more productive.
However, if you agree with my premise that the healthcare industry has a stronghold on Washington, you can be sure that this industry will continue to be one to invest in for the long-term. It’s sad to think of it this way but the reality for many is that an investment in the healthcare industry might well represent your primary means of paying for healthcare; but only if your investment horizon is a few decades.
You might be asking who I am to assert these bold views on healthcare. Allow me to give you a brief description as to what I do. Some of you may know me from my bold forecasts provide in 2006 with the release of America’s Financial Apocalypse and Cashing in on the Real Estate Bubble. Both books continue to be the most accurate and insightful on the market. But most of you have never heard of me or these books because the media has engaged in a widespread campaign to keep me out of reach from the public eye. And they have continued to do so in order to protect their financial and political agendas.
Rather than selling securities, I provide business and investment intelligence to institutions, corporations, venture capital firms and recently to the retail public. In other words, I HAVE NO AGENDAS or BIAS. As a part of this mission, healthcare has been my number one industry focus for several years, so my insights are not sporadic.
For more than five years now, I’ve been working in a specific area of healthcare called telemedicine; not as a healthcare administrator or provider, but along side venture capitalists and healthcare corporations. I’ve drawn upon this work to form the basis of my solution to America’s healthcare crisis.
Regardless of the political direction healthcare takes, the one common element absolutely critical for a successful remedy to America’s healthcare crisis is a rapid build out of telemedicine and healthcare IT.
As some of you know, I’ve been working on a book to address both the problems deeply embedded within America’s healthcare system as well as the solutions. After more than two years of work on this book, the release is expected in the Fall. As you might agree, my timing couldn’t be any better.
But don’t bother looking for it in your local bookstore. Large publishers are only concerned with publishing books that sell many copies. Sadly, these books are almost always useless because they are for the masses, which sadly, in America are quite unintelligent.
If you want to sell books, you have to dumb things down so the average American brain can understand it. When you do this, much of the value of any content that might initially be intended gets lost or deleted. Furthermore, because the mainstream media sees me as a threat to crashing its party of lies and manipulation, this book will not be published by a large publisher.
If you want to get published in non-fiction, you have to either already be in the “media” club” or else qualify as a candidate of this deceitful group. What that means is that you have to be a liar, hack or idiot as I’ve mentioned many times over. Hopefully, you’re beginning to understand how it all works. Sure, there are some exceptions as with everything.
You might already know that the mainstream media has black-balled me ever since the 2006 release of “America’s Financial Apocalypse.” What I had to say in that book certainly didn’t bode well for their financial sponsors (Wall Street). But it positioned all who read it with tremendous insight and investment returns. In my biased opinion, it remains as the most insightful and prognostic investment book written in at least the past five years. And I expect it to continue to serve investors for many years to come.
Don’t expect to see raving reviews of my healthcare book either. The reviewers are almost never genuine. Authors and publishers solicit favorable reviews from their associates a rule of thumb. Often, they even pay people to write favorable reviews. This is a fact.
In this book, you aren’t going to find arguments for or against universal healthcare. What you will find is what I believe to be the most comprehensive presentation of America’s healthcare problems, accompanied by proposed solutions. The most prominent element of this solution involves telemedicine. This is a subject that has never been written about to the lay audience, so it will be a first of its kind.
I wish I could anticipate this book would reach the hands of every American; at the very least, every member of Congress and every state politician.
On second thought, it really wouldn’t matter. Most Americans continue to be brainwashed by the media. And politicians don’t act on reason, responsibility or equity. They act on money. And as long as you continue to follow the mainstream media, you will be fooled and your life will be negatively impacted. As long as lobbyists are permitted to exist, the demands of American voters will continue to be flushed down the drain. These are some harsh realities, but it’s past time to face the truth.
NOTE: I continue to face widespread censorship for the cold hard truth I speak, as I see it. My intention is to wake the people up so they will realize just how useless and deceitful the mainstream media is. I ask that you do your part to help with this mission by emailing my articles to your friends and adding the articles to the various online syndication options provided at the top right-hand side of each article. Together, we can make a difference.
Copyright © 2009. Mike Stathis. All Rights Reserved.
Restrictions Against Reproduction: No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the Publisher. These articles and commentaries cannot be reposted or used in any publications for which there is any revenue generated directly or indirectly. These articles cannot be used to enhance the viewer appeal of any website, including any ad revenue on the website, other than those sites for which specific written permission has been granted. Any such violations are unlawful and violators will be prosecuted in accordance with these laws.
Requests to the Publisher for permission or further information should be sent to info@apexva.com
2 Comments
