Donald Johnson

Hedging Against ObamaCare: Potential Hedges Against Health Insurance Reform

Ozzy,

I agree that we don't have a health care crisis. Obama has created a crisis in an effort to get his ObamaCare enacted. People are beginning to doubt his solutions more and more.

What we have is an education crisis. Uneducated people live unhealthy life styles, don't make enough money to buy health insurance and don't know how to deal with providers or insurers. They, do, however, seem to do pretty well when it comes to gaming Medicaid.

If more parents and families valued education and made sure their kids got good educations, more people would be economically literate, understand risks, know how to shop for insurance and providers and make more cost effective health care decisions.

Hedging Against ObamaCare: Potential Hedges Against Health Insurance Reform

I agree that it's almost impossible to predict what will happen to ObamaCare because nobody knows what it will be.

What is clear is that new predictions this week that Kennedy's bill would cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years and reduce the number of unemployed by less than 15 million has given opponents new ammunition. Advocates don't have an answer.

It's also clear that anything Congress passes will be inflationary. And there is no way any of the gimmicks promoted by Obama will cut costs or expenditures.

I've blogged many times over the last six years about ways health insurance markets could be reformed in ways that would reduce insurance premiums without costing taxpayers a dime. But Kennedy and Obama are bent on creating a single-payer system that will attract billions in campaign contributions to the politicians who control health care spending.

Single-payer solutions are supported by about 21% of Americans, but their guys are in power. So who knows how this will turn out. I'm not trading in anticipation of any particular outcome related to health care, but I am trading anticipating more inflation.