Another posts with a number of disturbing opinions and statements that have no logic or real understanding behind them.
On commercial "greed": There is no such things as greed in a free market. Its quite simple to explain why. If a producer wants more money for what he is selling, a lot of you people moan about the producer being greedy. But you seem to forget that when exchange takes place there are 2 or more parties to the exchange and EVERY party is giving something up in exchange for something else.
The producer simply wants more for whatever he is giving up, in this case, he wants more money for his product. If you as the consumer wants something to be cheaper, then YOU WANT MORE for whatever you are giving up, in this case more product for your money.
Essentially if you view the producer as being greedy for wanting to charge more, then the consumer is equally as greedy for wanting things to be cheaper. Fundemental principle that people seem to have forgotten.
Medical aid should NOT be compulsory for working people. This just means that medical aids have to "fight" less for consumer money (Since they get some of it by law), which results in less competition and poorer products/services provided by the medical aids. Why would they care what consumers really want if consumers have no choice but to pay em? What are consumers gonna do? Refuse to pay them and risk going to jail? That is absurd.
Also if the employers provide medical aid, it reduces the choices of employees. The reason why employers started to pay for medical was because of world war 2. In the US during the war, things were very scarce. As a method of rationing things, by law salaries were capped at a certain limit. This meant that businesses could not compete to attract the best labour on price/salary, so they had to offer other benefits to distinguish themselves from their competitors, such as paying for medical aid etc.
However, if it is mandatory, then you as the consumer DO NOT HAVE THE CHOICE not to use medical aid. It is taken away from you. So, economically, your needs are not satisfied in the best manner, and thus you are arguably worse off.
Remember, economically, the better our individual wants and desires as consumers are satisfied (As determined by the individual in question), the "wealthier" we are if I can use such a term.
Also think of the ethical issue. I am refusing to pay someone for a service I might not want, and you want to stick me in jail for this? Do you guys work for the medical aids? Jees, so much for freedom of choice and association.
On capping rates: You cannot CAP rates. This policy will result in a reduction in supply as it does for every other industry/product (Economic causality at work). Meaning, you will start getting "less" or a poorer service for your money. Why would someone bother helping you and fixing your problems, providing more options when he can't charge more or cover costs?
If you want to reduce costs and increase quality, you need to increase supply and competition.
Not only with regards to medical aids but also with regards to doctors/equipment etc. Does a law prohibiting FOREIGN nurses/doctors from working in SA help alleviate our problems? No. Well we do have similar laws in place. They are designed to "protect" the jobs of SA doctors/nurses from foreigners who are willing to work for less, the unfortunate reality is it also reduces the supply of doctors, so it increases the costs for consumers, it reduces competition in SA so it reduces the quality of medical care provided and the consumers/majority get shafted.
If you want to see changes you have to deregulate the market. Prices only come down when SUPPLY increases!!! Making things "cheaper" through subsidisation will result in INCREASING DEMAND, that will just overburden the system even more.
PS: Remember health care is not a legitimate right as it cannot be enforced without resorting to theft or slavery.
I won't do it - and I won't do it to the ones I love.
