Health care is free!

by CalWatchdog Staff | August 8, 2012 9:28 am

[1]Aug. 8, 2012

By John Seiler

The Washington Post notes[2] of Obamacare:

“Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, [3]signed into law 28 months ago and largely upheld in June by the Supreme Court, it’s illegal for insurers to charge consumers a co-payment for a long list of health care services designed to prevent disease.”

It adds:

“They’re free.”

That’s right. Nobody pays for them.

Not only that. But the Post calculates:

“A 2010 study by Harvard University researchers, published in the journal Health Affairs,[4]concluded that ‘medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs….’ “

Unfortunately, the Post doesn’t factor the ultimate implications of this. I will.

Health care in America costs 17 percent of our $15 trillion GDP, or $2.6 trillion a year. Now, if: “medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs.” Then: if we spend 0.8 trillion ($800 million) on new wellness programs, then the entire $2.6 trillion spent on health care will be erased will!

($2.6 trillion / $3.27 = $0.8 trillion.)

Put another way, if we spend $0.8 trillion on wellness, we’ll save $2.6 trillion. Net savings: $1.8 trillion. That money then could be used to end the $1.3 trillion annual U.S. deficit, with $500 million used to start paying down the $16 trillion federal debt[5].

And the best of it is: We’ll all get in shape, be as healthy as Olympic gold-medal winners, work harder and generate even more tax revenue for more programs to make us even healthier!

[6]

 

 

 

Endnotes:
  1. [Image]: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/08/08/health-care-is-free/nurses-jdlasicafromflickr/
  2. The Washington Post notes: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/obamas-health-care-law-the-fitness-and-wellness-provisions-you-may-have-missed/2012/08/07/855c5336-d9eb-11e1-b829-cab78633af7c_story.html?wprss=rss_wellness
  3. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, : http://www.healthcare.gov/law/index.html
  4. published in the journal Health Affairs,: http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/2/304.abstract
  5. 16 trillion federal debt: http://www.usdebtclock.org/
  6. [Image]: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/08/08/health-care-is-free/olympic-athlete-nullfromflickr/

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