Clarkhoward Home

Listen Live: 
Mon-Fri 1-4pm ET
Stations near you | help

Clark On Demand:
Video Minute Archives
Daily Audio Archives
Rip-off Alerts
Call of the Week

Clark's Advice:
Today's Show Notes
Previous Show Notes
Clark's Greatest Hits
Free and Cheap

Consumer Action Center:
Ask Team Clark
Call 10am-7pm ET
(404) 892-8227

Quick Links:
Member Center
Blogs
Newsletters
Message boards
Meet the Team

Clark Media:
Appearances
Books
Photos
TV

Call The Show:
Talk to Clark 1-4pm ET:
(877) 87-CLARK or
(404) 872-0750
Advertisement
Ask Clark  Looking for something on the site? Search for it here!
help

Clark parses the candidates on healthcare

When you look back our nation's growth, the thing that has made us unique is our free market and entrepreneurial spirit. People come to America to start companies because we've been a beacon of opportunity. Our free enterprise system is unique in the Western world because half of all employment is with small firms.

Clark was recently speaking to a woman who used to be a burned-out corporate lawyer. She always loved making draperies and eventually quit her day job to do it fulltime. Now she has 6 employees in her basement -- probably against zoning laws -- and she makes more money than she did as a corporate lawyer.

The healthcare question has become the single greatest impediment to our nation's legacy of entrepreneurship. Would be entrepreneurs can not leave the firms they work for without fear of losing their employer-provided healthcare.

Simply put, our healthcare system is broken. The University of Minnesota finds that what we pay for healthcare is up 30% in 4 years! Meanwhile, the average family premium is $11K/year. It's gotten so bad that the University of Texas nonprofit medical system has actually turned dying people away because they're afraid they won't be paid.

Clark doesn't do politics on his show, but he believes that John McCain has come out with a common sense proposal to address the healthcare question. McCain is seeking to eliminate the corporate healthcare deduction. The 2 Democratic candidates, meanwhile, seek more government intervention in healthcare. McCain's plan would be similar to giving out vouchers for families to buy healthcare in the free market.

He's on the right track, Clark believes, though his proposal is like Swiss cheese and needs to be filled in. Standardized policies are necessary so that we can buy identical coverage from state to state and insurer to insurer. So far, the McCain plan is the only one that Clark sees helping out the small business entrepreneur. And that's crucial for the future success of our economy.

Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.

Add your comment

Security Image * Please enter the code shown at left
what's this?

What others are saying

  • reveal costs
    When you work for a company and they provide health care insurance you have no knowledge of the cost. Then you constantly hear about the rising cost of the health care insurance. The best way to solve this part of the problem is to have everyone pay for their own insurance. Then you know how much it costs. Tax treatment for these health care payments should be the same for everyone whether it is "provided" or not.
    By darowa @ 05/04/08 04:25:12 PMreport abuse
  • What nonsense!
    I must answer a few of these myths laid out by others below me. Medicare is anything BUT efficient. If it were such a wonderful thing, you would have a lot more doctors accepting Medicare patients. Doctors LOSE money on every Medicare patient they see, since the Feds have decided to pay ridiculously low doctors fees. However, the Feds and insurance companies still pay well for "facility fees", which is one reason so many docs own their own surgicenters these days: they get paid more for owning the building than seeing the patient.
    Those of you fond of the Canadian system obviously haven't utilized it much. Otherwise you'd still be waiting for your knee replacement (18 months). Or maybe you would have died waiting for your cancer surgery or heart bypass. I know: many Canadian doctors have flocked to my area to earn a living without the government restrictions and rationing.
    You can force any kind of system you want. You can force all the doctors to do anything you want. But there's just one catch: you can't force doctors to be doctors, and you can't force college students to go into health care. And if there's only over-regulation and no pecuniary incentive, you will have turned our health care system into the system our foreign doctors came to the US to avoid!
    By dred @ 05/03/08 12:32:48 AMreport abuse
  • Healthcare and the free market
    The free market system doesn’t work with healthcare because healthcare is not an economic good / service in the classic definition. If you go back to your economics 101 textbook or read the classic economists like Adam Smith, you will see that for a free market to work, several things have to be true:
    • The consumer has to have serious knowledge of the product. Very difficult in healthcare where detailed knowledge requires deep understandings of biology and chemistry. Consumers rely on their doctor's knowledge but the doctor is one of the “sellers” of the product.
    • There have to be adequate substitutes available. If I can’t afford soda pop, I can choose Kool-Aid or water or cheap beer…. What’s the substitute for a kidney transplant? Are we prepared to say that transplant is too expensive, let me die instead?
    • There has to be a large number of sellers and buyers. Outside of major cities, how often are there a large number of hospitals to choose from?
    You get the point…medical care is very different than selling cars or soft drinks or other commodities that work so well in the free market. So please stop advocating “free market” solutions to this problem.
    By Mark J from Lincoln CA @ 05/02/08 06:04:03 PMreport abuse
  • Affordable health care
    Clark, I agree with 90% of what you say, but I couldn't disagree more on this one! There are so many false myths about healthcare.
    Myth: Only Canadians have universal health care. Fact: America is the only industrialized country that DOESN'T!
    Myth: Canadians hate their universal health care. Fact: In 2004 Canadians voted Tommy Douglass, the 'founder' of their health care, as the Greatest Canadian ever.
    Myth: The United States, under the current system has the best health care in the world. Fact: According to the World Health Care Organization, we are not #1 or even #10, but 37th!
    Myth: If the government ran it, it would be terribly inefficient. Fact: Medicare is government run and runs incredibly effecient at under 3% ad min cost.
    As stated below getting rid of administrative costs in the current system, that add at least 25% to the current costs, would be a great first step in providing funding.
    Clark, McCain's plan as I understand would provide about $5K toward buying your own, but an average family plan with so-so coverage is about $12K. Where does the other $7K come from?...isn't this a 'tax' increase? this much like Bush's 'plan' that never got off of the ground. Clark, Bush, McCain and you are all wet on this one!
    Please Google up and watch Elizabeth Edward's reply to McCain's proposal...she is dead on.
    Hillary's plan aims high, but Obama's is do-able. Clark, you are not political, but you sure did a lot of political damage on this one!
    By Jeff from Janesville, WI @ 05/01/08 08:33:34 PMreport abuse
  • Healthcare, private sector and the military
    Its not all the private sector's fault for the rise in health care. See my previous comment from today.

    Another factor is the cost of malpractice insurance embedded in the costs. Doctors pay a whole lot of money for malpractice insurance. That costs ultimately is trickled down to us.

    Yes we have the best military in the world, but that military comes with a huge price tag in the form of much higher taxes. Isn't the military somewhere around 50% of the national budget?

    The answer is to eliminate ALL forms of state paid healthcare.

    We need to loosen up restrictions and regulations and let the free market rein.
    By Kevin Cloudt @ 05/01/08 03:31:05 PMreport abuse
  • Health Care
    Government Isurance is not the answer I agree, however 2 notes. Madicare/aid have been given better scores for service and have a better dollar per service ratio than any private health insurance company. Why? Private companies spend more money fighting claims than paying them.
    Solution:
    People pick their own insurance not employers or government. Free Market
    Doctors and patients have final say on what is needed not insurance companies.
    Losser pays or limit liability to reduce lawsuits and insuance expenses to everyone.
    An apples to apples systems so people can really see what company is giving them the best deal.
    By GQ @ 05/01/08 02:45:16 PMreport abuse
  • Healthcare
    Clark is all wet on this one! The McCain plan leaves millions uninsured or unable to afford coverage. The private sector has failed miserably to control costs compared to every other healthcare system in the industrialized world. Europeans pay 1/3 to 1/2 what we pay and they are healthier. The McCain plan just re-arranges the deck chairs on the Titanic. Why are we so afraid of "government intervention" Has our government not created the best, most effective military in the world? Do you really think for-profit insurance companies will ever do a better, more compassionate job?
    By Jim Price @ 05/01/08 02:17:20 PMreport abuse
  • the reason why the cost is rising
    One contributing reason as to why health care costs are rising for everyone is because of the already existing socialism in the US.

    It comes down to basic economics: supply and demand. The more demand there is for a product, the higher the price will go.

    The government takes tax dollars from the middle class to subsidize the health care of the lower classes as well as the elderly. Many people who are poor in the US are that way because of lack of discipline (not everyone of course). Combine lack of restraint with a product that is free and abuse sets in. Peach Care and other programs are part of the problem.

    With this free access to healthcare given to a group of people of which many have no discipline or restraint the supply is greatly eroded. Literally, more medicine and services are taken out of the market causing a smaller supply for the rest of us who have money to pay for them.

    Because there is less supply, the price goes up. The middle class picks up the bill again. We pay for it in the form of higher taxes and in the form of higher medical costs.

    Eliminate socialism and this will ease much of the burden.
    By Kevin Cloudt @ 05/01/08 01:58:18 PMreport abuse
  • healthcare
    Healthcare or health insurance is no more a responsibility of government than auto, home or life insurance is.I studyed healthcare/health insurance reform for 10 years while in the Ga legislature and free mkt solutions are the best.
    By tom wilder @ 05/01/08 12:34:41 PMreport abuse
  • Fix the system. Not band aid it.
    First of all we need to recognize that healthcare in this country is stupidly expensive. There are many reasons for this.
    1. Fear of litigation - This makes healthcare providers recommend all sorts of tests to cover their behind if they get sued. Litigation also adds to costs indirectly since everyone including doctors, hospitals, manufacturers of medicines/medical equipment etc. has to pay high insurance premiums since they may be named in the lawsuit. There is also the cost of defending themselves if they are named in a lawsuit (we need 'Loser Pays' laws to prevent these lawsuits).
    2. Employer provided health insurance - If the consumer is responsible for shopping for insurance and not the employer, it brings competition into the marketplace and increases efficiency.
    3. No incentive to keep costs down - If a patient is responsible for a percentage of the medical bill, he or she will not push the doctor to prescribe medication or recommend tests that they heard of on TV. Basically, the patient will get the doctor to perform tests or priscribe medications that are only absolutely necessary.

    Once medical costs are brought down, they will be accessable to most people and stupid ideas like government provided healthcare will be avoided. Sure, it is a near impossible task since there are lobbys that will prevent politicians from implementing these changes. Politicians need the campaign contributions (legal bribes) from these lobbys to get reelected.
    By GA @ 05/01/08 12:07:04 PMreport abuse
  • EXPENSIVE HEALTH CARE
    CLARK - THE PROBLEM IS THE INSURANCE PROFESSION. INSURANCE COMPANIES LIKE AETNA, BLUE CROSS ETC ADD 25% TO THE COST OF HEALTH CARE. WE MUST ELIMINATE THE "MIDDLE MAN" AND GET THE INSURERS OUT. INSURANCE COMPANIES SHOULD NOT BE ANYPLACE IN THE HEALTH CARE BUSINESS. MEDICARE - OR 'ONE PAYER" SYSTEMS, WITH THE POWER TO NEGOTIATE ON BEHALF OF MILLIONS, ONLY COSTS 3% !
    By Jess Vics @ 05/01/08 07:27:01 AMreport abuse
  • Others have done it
    Britain and Canada are the bad examples some use. Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and France all have figured out very different plans. The core element is that everyone is insured. The hard fact is that costs won't be contained until health insurance for basic care is made non-profit. All the countries I mentioned above came to that conclusion and then developed a plan that suits their population.

    Beyond that--beyond treating health care as a basic need that the world's greatest country should be able to guarantee to its population--there will be plenty of room for the entrepreneurial spirit. Plenty of room for innovation. The current innovation is in actuarial science and finance. The whole point of health insurance when run for profit is for these people to determine how to exclude those people from coverage who are not profitable. This is the issue. These are the least of us. These are the ones who need coverage. These are our family, friends, and neighbors.

    Once everyone is covered, then emergency rooms will become places for emergencies again. An emergency room is not the place for primary care. It is not efficient or cost-effective in treating the coughs and runny noses. ER's are intended for emergencies. ER physicians train to treat emergencies.

    As taxpayers, we'll foot the bill one way or the other-whether someone comes to have their cold treated at the ER because they have no health insurance and no alternative or if they come to my office with coverage. My bill will be less, though.

    Google 'frontline sick around the world' for more background...
    By Mark MD @ 04/30/08 09:46:45 PMreport abuse
  • Health Care.
    Clark,
    You are correct. Our system is "broken". It is a "system" though.

    But what you (and maybe McCain) fail to be consistent on is that eliminating the "tax break" to corporations means more "tax" on corporations. Right? Just how does that equate to "less" government intervention? Again, individuals get a "tax break" for medical expenses. (after a certain point). Why shouldn't companies? Corporations create jobs. And being able to provide health care is an incentive to attract good employees. Large companies have an economy of scale that your "entrepreneur" system can't. Do you think everyone can go into business as a separate entity?
    If you kill employer health coverage, you better overhaul the whole "system".
    I am just guessing, but I think someone who works for WSB radio has a "pre-existing condition" that make it impossible to get health care if they didn't work there.

    (Not you , but someone that has a day time show).
    I have heard that person say things on the air which leads me to that conclusion.

    In other words I think this person is working at WSB for the company group health plan.

    I find that you are inconsistent on many things, but this one really burns me and will do for now.
    By G.Gordon @ 04/30/08 06:55:33 PMreport abuse
  • Healthcare coverage - individuals
    I've been trying to get a chance to call in to ask if Clark has any information on the reliability and integrity of "discount plans" or "aggregate plans" of coverage for individuals who would normally be excluded from major med policies due to pre-existing conditions such as diabetes. I used to have a small business group plan w/BC-BS and the individual policy after I "retired" became too expensive - increased over $150/month the 3rd yr. into it. I now have a terrible policy but can afford it in case of catastrophic illness. "The sharks" are swarming to get me to buy discount plans or aggregate coverage. The discount plan I just looked at was with Intelicare and they off part insurance with it - through Berry Street. I'm very concerned and confused and feel my health will suffer vs. losing all my assets. Please address "discount plans" and "aggregate plans" if you can. Thank you.
    By Judy Faro @ 04/30/08 04:11:35 PMreport abuse

Advertisement


This week's poll
NYC health inspectors have been handing out violations to chain restaurants that don't post calorie counts on their menus. What's your take on this?
I believe in what the inspectors are doing. Long live the food police.
This isn't a legitimate function of gov't-paid employees.
I couldn't care less. I'd be eating at home to save money!
see previous polls


Advertisement
Copyright © Cox Radio, Inc. and Cox Radio Interactive. All rights reserved. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement. Privacy Policy.