Comments on: Should Small Businesses Pay For Health Care? http://livingoffdividends.com/2009/08/12/should-small-businesses-pay-for-health-care/ Join me on my journey to achieve financial independence through dividends, passive income and investments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:22:11 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 hourly 1 By: Brad http://livingoffdividends.com/2009/08/12/should-small-businesses-pay-for-health-care/comment-page-1/#comment-61623 Brad Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:13:24 +0000 http://livingoffdividends.com/?p=1215#comment-61623 "The only way a firm can make money is to sell people what they want at a price they are willing to pay. If a firm makes lots of money, lots of people are getting what they want." I wonder if the author stopped to think about the reason for profits behind his two examples of health insurance and gas companies? They are for all intents and purposes necessities. I took a trip to the ER without insurance for strep throat (I had no idea what the symptoms were at the time). 30 minutes was all it took in the ER and I had a $900 bill. Heaven forbid if I had anything serious. People don't get health insurance because they find a product they are happy with at a price they are happy with. I know have a job that offers health insurance and I have to agree with Chris' mentality here.... I am not seeing a choice. I get what is offered or I get nothing. I'm all for profits, its what company's do. I just don't think we should be cheering the efforts of an industry that has a captive audience and raises rates in double digit % year after year. What if grocery stores and utility companies do this? "The result? When the next hurricane arrives, the entrepreneur will stay put, and three dozen homeowners who were willing to pay for power will not have it." OK seriously now? Nobody would make the drive for a mere 100% markup? Again the term "willing to pay" is stretched pretty far. Technically its correct that nobody put a gun to their head to buy a generator but seeing how long it took New Orleans to get back is it really a choice? Lastly about public outcry and government investigations. I don't recall public demonstrations to investigate the price gouging of Apple over iphones and ipods. Or senate committee investigations over the prices for Xboxes and Wiis. I can't believe this guy is a yale law professor. “The only way a firm can make money
is to sell people what they want at a price they are willing to pay. If a firm makes lots of money, lots of people are getting what they want.”

I wonder if the author stopped to think about the reason for profits behind his two examples of health insurance and gas companies? They are for all intents and purposes necessities. I took a trip to the ER without insurance for strep throat (I had no idea what the symptoms were at the time). 30 minutes was all it took in the ER and I had a $900 bill. Heaven forbid if I had anything serious. People don’t get health insurance because they find a product they are happy with at a price they are happy with.
I know have a job that offers health insurance and I have to agree with Chris’ mentality here….
I am not seeing a choice. I get what is offered or I get nothing.

I’m all for profits, its what company’s do. I just don’t think we should be cheering the efforts of an industry that has a captive audience and raises rates in double digit % year after year. What if grocery stores and utility companies do this?

“The result? When the next hurricane arrives, the entrepreneur will stay put, and three dozen homeowners who were willing to pay for power will not have it.”
OK seriously now? Nobody would make the drive for a mere 100% markup? Again the term “willing to pay” is stretched pretty far. Technically its correct that nobody put a gun to their head to buy a generator but seeing how long it took New Orleans to get back is it really a choice?

Lastly about public outcry and government investigations. I don’t recall public demonstrations to investigate the price gouging of Apple over iphones and ipods. Or senate committee investigations over the prices for Xboxes and Wiis. I can’t believe this guy is a yale law professor.

]]> By: Chris http://livingoffdividends.com/2009/08/12/should-small-businesses-pay-for-health-care/comment-page-1/#comment-61046 Chris Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:56:21 +0000 http://livingoffdividends.com/?p=1215#comment-61046 While I can understand his point about the media saying profit is evil, but in this instance it seems that most of this profit was made by decreasing competition so that in many states there are only a few insurers that service that state. A product like apple ipods are great because consumers are choosing to spend their money on that, while often health care is selected by employer which may have different interests than the actual consumer. The more inelastic the demand for the product/the more profit is vilified and occasionally rightly so. While I can understand his point about the media saying profit is evil, but in this instance it seems that most of this profit was made by decreasing competition so that in many states there are only a few insurers that service that state. A product like apple ipods are great because consumers are choosing to spend their money on that, while often health care is selected by employer which may have different interests than the actual consumer. The more inelastic the demand for the product/the more profit is vilified and occasionally rightly so.

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