est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

,

Affordable Care Act |the Healthy Subsidizes the Unhealthy

Submitted by Bentley Everyone should read this article. I remember saying, at the start of the health care debate in the US that resulted in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that this should be taken into account. In fact, when I was at CEP (I left CEP in 1993) I proposed to an insurance agent…

,
Submitted by Bentley

Everyone should read this article. I remember saying, at the start of the health care debate in the US that resulted in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that this should be taken into account. In fact, when I was at CEP (I left CEP in 1993) I proposed to an insurance agent that healthy individuals should be rewarded and that equipment used to maintain and promote healthy lifestyles should be subsidised under health insurance plans.

 

Affordable Care Act is the biggest transfer of health in the history of the…

By John Foley

The healthy should not be forced to subsidize health insurance for the unhealthy.

86 responses to “Affordable Care Act |the Healthy Subsidizes the Unhealthy”

  1. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    Hal’s critical thinking psyche has been totally destroyed, that is the damage caused by brainwash education…post slavery…many, many blacks are thus afflicted.

    It was horribly effective.

  2. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ WW&C
    Hal’s critical thinking psyche has been totally destroyed…
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    It is impossible to destroy that which has never existed…

    ** Bushie’s fifth law of BU logic
    ha ha ha

  3. Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger

    lol…

  4. Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger

    Simple…i have had a chinese son-in-law for years now and that is North America. ..just imagine when the chinese dudes turn on the charm in Barbados and the Caribbean..lol

  5. David Avatar
    David

    Click on the image to read the report.

  6. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Simple Simon,

    If you are murderer then you are verminous. Has nothing to do with speaking English. Afterall, most Bajans do not speak English. As to custom, talk to the East Africans barred from entering Chinese-owned restaurants. Thanks for the validation, I longed for it.

  7. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    EXPLETIVE DELETED, EXPLETIVE DELETED, EXPLETIVE DELETED,

    A foul stench coming from Foul Bay in St Philip.

    dump their offal, their construction material, and even their dead dogs in the area.

    http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/98480/stench-foul-bay

  8. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Well Ill agree with David’s point, there is a dilemma here. Does the government continue to heavily tax the population, both healthy and unhealthy, to subsidize the health care cost of the unhealthy. All I will say to the healthy ones thinking like that, is that they one day they themselves will get unhealthy. It might be temporary or permanent condition. But that day will come.

  9. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Simple Simon July 8, 2017 at 12:00 AM

    “The Chinese men are not here to take your money, they are here to take your daughters.
    A good number of us will find ourselves with Chinese sons in law, especially if black Caribbean men don’t treat their women right, and sadly a lot of black Caribbean men have not treated their women right.
    The Chinese men will dish out the nice treatment, and will take your daughters.
    Fellers the competition is on.”

    Simple S, are you referring to the same ‘nice treatment’ black men dish out to white women?
    That will never happen. Chinese men are not endowed with the same ‘goods’ big enough to appeal to hotty black women. Bajan women are not too terribly impressed or even turned on by Chinese cabbage grown from waste on construction sites but by loads of wood (even when daubed with the Chinese brush).

    Just ask Scrilla what kind of ‘wood’ black chicks adore and demand from their suitors.

    Too besides, why do you expect Bajan black women- many of whom have been ‘educated’ to tertiary level- would want to be ‘dependent’ on imported men from Chinese prisons and with low-life social backgrounds? They could as well take up unpaid full-time employment on the Bushy Hill.

    Surely you would not wish that for any of your fertile female family members!
    The sperm bank can always be a last resort rather than dog-eating small dickers.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    @Kevin

    Did you read the article Bentley submitted? When we mentioned the healthy paying for the unhealthy is is to make a bigger point. Perhaps you should read the article and then dare to comment.

  11. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    “If you are murderer then you are verminous.”

    That’s right simple, just like the murderous vermin Bernard and Phyllis Coard and their accomplices.

    Miller….that’s cold…lol

    The society is being educated continously to not EXCELLERATE their health problems by continuing to pursue unhealthy diets, fast food etc, bad health can be controlled and slowed down….

    …….. I have been doing it successfully for decades and have never been a burden on any healthcare system, you are responsible for caring for your own health…..unless it’s unavoidable.

  12. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    @ David,

    “What does society owe Westley? What does society owe the alcoholic? The drug addict? The chain smoker? The Type 2 diabetic? The motorcyclist? The mountain climber who knowingly engages in a dangerous hobby?

    The ACA holds that those who live a responsible lifestyle must subsidize those who do not — the transfer of health via higher insurance premiums paid by the healthy……

    I read the article very thoroughly.

  13. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/07/08/a-case-for-taxing-soda/

    As usual Barbados is 16 or 17 years behind in taxing unhealthy sodas and banning all unhealthy sodas from sale in the schools.

    “Caribbean people love their soda. In fact, people in this region consume twice the amount of the sugary drinks that individuals elsewhere do.

    But it is leading to an unhealthy society marked by early and preventable deaths due to illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension, according to a report on the evaluation of the implementation of the 2007 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government Port of Spain Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Summit Declaration.

    “The Caribbean drinks the most soft drinks of anywhere in the world. Per capita, we drink on average two soft drinks per person per day. Nowhere else drinks that number of soft drinks,” said Dr Alafia Samuels, the lead investigator for the evaluation, supported by CARICOM, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

    “So, [that is] perhaps one of the reasons why the Prime Minister of Barbados [Freundel Stuart] was the first in the region to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. And, we’re hoping that more countries in the region will follow this,” she added.”

  14. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Kevin July 8, 2017 at 12:16 PM
    “What does society owe Westley? What does society owe the alcoholic? The drug addict? The chain smoker? The Type 2 diabetic? The motorcyclist? The mountain climber who knowingly engages in a dangerous hobby?
    The ACA holds that those who live a responsible lifestyle must subsidize those who do not — the transfer of health via higher insurance premiums paid by the healthy……”

    If that were to be held up as a principle of funding State-provided health care services why are alcohol, tobacco and other “sin-related” lifestyle activities like betting and gaming taxed so heavily?

    Kevin, as a ‘reasonably’ thinking man, would you support the imposition of a specifically targeted tax -similar to the tax on sweet drinks or even the NSRL- on fast food outlets (let us call it a Fat Tax, for argument sake) to collect in advance contributions towards the inevitable costly burden which would fall on the State in providing health care services to those with self-inflicted lifestyle diseases?

  15. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    @ Miller, yes i support a targeted tax

  16. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    The BU intelligentsia. #idun

  17. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    David July 8, 2017 at 9:20 AM #

    That discussion paper refers to 2010 and WHO.

    …..my memory recalls OSA talking about this same thing in the early 2000s and I am sure a paper exists.

    ….I wonder if we could compare the two papers?

  18. David Avatar
    David

    Barney Gibbs

    18 hrs ·

    Change.org

    ·

    I am sick of seeing litter strewn around Barbados. Most of it is single use plastic. If you want to do something about it, please share or sign this petition.

    Stand with Barney Gibbs

  19. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Hal Austin July 7, 2017 at 1:39 PM “Barbados will be doomed. I have seen it in the UK . Remember those people who came to the UK from Uganda, their children and grand children are in many cases (not all) now the terrorists.”

    So has the U.K experienced the “rivers of blood” that Enoch Powell predicted when my brothers and sisters, and you were migrating to the U.K.? Have you West Indian immigrants caused the damnation of the United Kingdom?

    And can you tell us, so called journalist that you are, how many people migrated from Uganda to the U.K? and how many children and grandchildren they have produced? and what percentage of these children and grandchildren are terrorists, and how many are ordinary decent subjects.

  20. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @John Foley “The healthy should not be forced to subsidize health insurance for the unhealthy.”

    @David July 7, 2017 at 1:37 PM “There seems to be a moral dilemma here, should governments continue to allocate resources to citizens who deliberately engage in unhealthy lifestyles or…”

    David I beg you please don’t get caught up in this right wing nonsense. What exactly do you mean when you say deliberately engage in unhealthy lifestyles?

    What exactly is an unhealthy lifestyle?

    I was reading today’s Nation, where a man was complaining for his wife. Evidently he worked out in the gym for a couple of hours every day for the first 12 years of his marriage, while the wife went to work, then went straight home to cook and help the children with their homework. It appears that she never had the time to go to the gym, how could she when she was the sole active care giver for young children?

    So was the gym rat a healthy lifestyle activist? Should we reward him for being a bad daddy?

    And was the dedicated mother engaging in an unhealthy lifestyle? And should we punish her? Or should we punish the gym rat who needed to be told that his children needed his care? As a matter of fact by his own words his wife had to with hold sex from him to get him to see reason.

    In any society we must take care of each other. I happily pay my taxes so that the Prime Minister or Prime Ministeress can have an “S” class Benz, and I contentedly take the ZR’s so that our PM’s (B’s, D’s all of them can be properly transported)

    Health insurance works the same, same way.

    Do you think that I may be entitled to a refund because in my 70 years I have spent just 1 day in the QEH?

    Should I get a refund because the PM’s all of them from Sandi forward went to UWI and I did not?

    Should I get a refund [of the portion of my taxes which went to funding the airport] because I have never got on an airplane in my life?

    Should I get a big fat NIS refund because I have never claimed sick benefits or unemployment benefits, or any kind of NIS benefits?

    In a decent society we take care of each other.

    Because is me today, and is you tomorrow,

  21. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Hal Austin July 8, 2017 at 9:49 AM “If you are murderer then you are verminous.”

    The man was not a murderer. From the story which you presented the charge would have been manslaughter at most.

    Because no businessman deliberately kills off his customers.

  22. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @David July 7, 2017 at 4:33 PM “Did the MoH just announce that the government is looking at establishing a National Health Fund? How is this expected to work?”

    Just like NIS David. Just like NIS.

    We will all pay in when we are young and healthy.

    We will all take out when we are sick or old, or old and sick.

    Because we will all become old or sick, or sick and old.

    Simple so.

    And then we will all die.

    Simple, simple.

  23. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Hal Austin July 8, 2017 at 9:49 AM ‘After all, most Bajans do not speak English.”

    And most English do not speak Bajan.

    So what is your point?

  24. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @millertheanunnaki July 8, 2017 at 11:37 AM “Chinese men are not endowed with the same ‘goods’ big enough to appeal to hotty black women. Bajan women are not too terribly impressed or even turned on by Chinese…”

    Stan’ dey and fool yaself.

  25. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @millertheanunnaki July 8, 2017 at 11:37 AM “Too besides, why do you expect Bajan black women- many of whom have been ‘educated’ to tertiary level- would want to be ‘dependent’ on imported men from Chinese prisons and with low-life social backgrounds?”

    Where did I say anything about dependent?

  26. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Kevin July 8, 2017 at 12:16 PM ““What does society owe Westley? What does society owe the alcoholic? The drug addict? The chain smoker? The Type 2 diabetic? The motorcyclist? The mountain climber who knowingly engages in a dangerous hobby?”

    What does society owe the big guts politician?

    What does society owe the poor rakey yard fowl?

  27. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Simple Simon,
    You are living up to your name, and there is no real need for further dialogue. One point however, if a shopkeeper, or any one else for that matter, kills someone in premeditation, that is murder in any common law jurisdiction.
    End of story and end of conversation.

  28. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    millertheanunnaki July 7, 2017 at 5:11 PM #

    “How about going a bit further and impose a ‘FAT TAX’ (F T) on all fast food sales? The ‘F T’ can be imposed as a specified percentage (say 5 %) of all sales made from each fast food outlet and collected via the existing VAT regime with necessary adjustments.”

    “Let the consumers of fast foods from those highly profitable chains of ‘fat’ distributors pay in advance for their future health care cost expected to be provided by the State.”

    @ millertheanunnaki

    Yes, Miller, government “imposing a ‘fat tax’ on all fast food sales” sounds like an excellent idea. But there are implications of that action that politicians will contemplate.

    They burden the owners of fast food outlets with an additional 5% tax as you suggested, thereby increasing overall taxes to 22.5% (VAT 17.5% + FT 5% = 22.5%), resulting in corresponding increases in prices.

    Let’s examine this situation using Chefette as an example. There is an additional 5% increase in prices of that restaurant’s products, resulting in a decrease in sales over the long-term. A continued decrease in sales forces Haloute to reduce his employees to the point where he has to close 10 of the 15 or so Chefettes and 200 people waiting in the “bread line” as a result.

    There are similar occurrences at KFC, where the owners are forced to close 8 of their 12 outlets. Gray “Pizza Man Doc” Brome, who has only 3 outlets remaining of the 7 he previously owned, is now totally “wiped out of business.” Chicken Barn, Burger King, Granny’s in Oistins, Subway, Bubba’s, Lucky Horseshoe and all the other fast food outlets decide to “lay off” employees resulting in an additional 1,500 joining the ranks of the unemployed.

    Then government has to consider the effect of the tax on FDI and may have to offer concessions on other taxes to encourage foreign investment, creating an uneven playing field for the outlets that remain (and causing Bizzy Williams to cry and shout victimization again).

    The investment analysts for Wendy’s, McDonalds, Dairy Queen and other “international brands” seeing the trend in Barbados relative to the closure of fast food outlets, may conclude investing in the island is not a lucrative venture.

    John Boyce is concerned about NCD, and rightly so. But could you imagine him telling his constituents, and by extension Barbadians, not to buy food from the Oistins Food Court or fried chicken livers, necks and gizzards from Granny’s Restaurant (which are located in the heart of his constituency)?

    ………..or Col. Jeffrey Bostic discouraging people from buying the popular liver cutters from Pink Star in Baxter’s Road?

    ……….or Santia Bradshaw saying not to buy souse from George in the Pine (out dey by CBC and a popular liming spot for politicians)?

    ……….or Mara Thompson advocating the closure of the Souse Factory in St. John?

    What about fried chicken livers, necks, gizzards, fish, chicken and pork chops from the village shops or “the small man black man trying to make a dollar” in the various constituencies?

    Can you imagine politicians on the campaign trail trying to solicit votes, going into the village rums shops and refusing to buy alcoholic beverages, fish cakes, chicken, souse, pork chops, etc for constituents and buy milk instead?

    Although what I mentioned above may sound simplistic or silly, correlate it to the issue of squatting. People have been squatting in zone 1 areas for years, despite the authorities expressing concern about contamination of the water supply. Now we have Jamaicans and Guyanese squatters telling their relatives and friends about “free” land in Barbados and encouraging them to come here to squat on the old dump site at Rock Hall, St. Philip.

    The politicians are not prepared to do anything about this issue, lest they lose votes in the process, as is evidenced by Adriel Brathwaite, who in response to questions relative to the Rock Hall squatters, said he was aware of the situation and have friends living there. The illegal squatters remain to this day.

    Politicians know that introducing a health levy is the easiest and simplest method of tackling the NCD problem, because of political expediency, they are not prepared to be proactive.

    Government needs to be serious about NCDs and other health issues.

  29. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David July 7, 2017 at 4:12 PM #

    “So there is the need for the State to intervene when individuals renege on their responsibility. Given the trending of NCDs in Barbados Houston we have a problem.”

    @ David

    For reasons of political expediency, politicians will continue to talk shiite about NCD, but are not prepared to thoroughly deal with the issue.

    Consider, for example, an owner of 20 fast food outlets in Barbados making financial contributions to political parties and his parliamentary representative and providing a few jobs at his outlets on the parliamentarian’s behalf, or providing refreshments for annual conferences, constituency branch meeting and Christmas parties…………… do you actually believe politicians would sincerely tackle the NCD problem?

    The easiest way out for them is to introduce a health levy.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    Joseph Another aspect to consider is the quality of care we provide. Audits show that the quality of our primary care is dismal, both public and private sector. Shouldn’t we be addressing this? No point paying more for something that’s broken – we need to fix it first. I’ll attach links to the evidence below though these are scientific articles. A read of the results section of the abstract will show how often GPs are performing basic and critical aspects of care for hypertensive and diabetic patients over a two year period.

    LikeShow More Reactions

    · Reply ·

    Joseph  https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/…/1756-0500-3-316

    Are primary care practitioners in Barbados following hypertension guidelines? – a…

    bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com

  31. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Trump’s father, Fred Trump, was among 7 men arrested in June 1927 during a KKK meeting.

    In 1973, the Justice Department sued the Trump Management Corporation for alleged racial discrimination against black people looking to rent apartments in the Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island boroughs of New York City.
    And agian in 1976, the Justice Department sued the Trump Management Corporation again for allegedly discriminating against black applicants by telling them apartments weren’t available.

    Trump implied that Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was presiding over a class action suit against the for-profit Trump University, could not fairly hear the case because of his Mexican heritage.

    “Donald Trump built his political brand on racist conspiracy theories and rode to the White House on a wave of reactionary white rage, stoked by his demagogic campaign against Muslims, Hispanic immigrants, Black activists and assorted foreigners.”

    Since winning the election, Trump has picked top advisers and cabinet officials whose careers are checkered by accusations of racially biased behavior.

    Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor, Steve Bannon, was was executive chairman of Breitbart, a news site that Bannon dubbed the “home of the alt-right” ― a euphemism that describes a loose coalition of white supremacists and aligned groups.

    Attorney General Sen. Jeff Sessions has been accused of making racially insensitive comments, which caused the Senate, in 1986, to confirm his nomination as a Federal Judge.

    Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, faced allegations of profiting from racial discrimination.

    In April 2017, Trump invited and met with known racist musician Kid Rock at the White House. Trump has also met with other known racists such as Sarah Palin and musician Ted Nugent.

    Former USA president Barrack Obama may have had his faults and made mistakes similarly to every other human being.

    However, in my opinion, by repealing and criticizing Obama’s policies, Trump is on a campaign to make it appear as though because Obama is African American, he was the worse President the USA. He was criticizing “Obamacare” without presenting any alternatives, only making generalized statements.

    And what is sickening is the fact that, although his history is there for all to read, we have black people trying to defend the racist pig, Donald Trump.

  32. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    The Nation is reporting that DPP Charles Leacock who has been the subject of Hal Austin’s ire has passed, Hal will have to look for another piñata to swing at.

  33. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @Hal Austin July 9, 2017 at 2:39 AM “there is no real need for further dialogue. One point however, if a shopkeeper, or any one else for that matter, kills someone in premeditation, that is murder in any common law jurisdiction. End of story and end of conversation.

    Are you trying to silence me???

    Lol!!!

    According to your story it is not clear that there was premeditation. And if an honest jury is not certain beyond a reasonable doubt then they cannot convict.

    But it was you, not me, who referred to verminous Chinese shopkeepers [were there 2 gunmen then?] and people with Hitlerian attitudes like yours are only too willing to first call other humans vermin, and then to exterminate them.

    I will not join you.

    You really need to get over the fact that Brittania no longer rules the waves, and will not rule the waves again in your lifetime nor yours.

    Greece was once a great power. No more.

    Rome was once a great power. No more.

    Egypt was once a great power. No more

    England was once a great power. No more.

    Get used to it.

    Get used to living on your small unimportant island in the cold north Atlantic.

  34. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    Chuckle……..America was once a great power.soon to be no more.

  35. Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger

    Hals brainwash is total, a miserable existence, i have seen it many times before in Caribbean people who spent 40, 50, 60 years in UK ...its irrevocable.

    they leave the earth in that mental condition.

    never a pretty sight.

  36. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    Interesting….

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40577858

Older Comments
1 2

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading