health care
everyone's got an opinion on health care in the us. most people are healthy, have it, and don't need it. on the other hand, you can find lots of horror stories of people who aren't, don't, and do. it could clearly be better. pretty much the biggest problem is cost. we pay the insurance company to shop for the best price for us. we pay them lots of money to do this. the providers on the other hand counter by inflating prices. so if you don't have an insurance company going to bat for you the providers hand you inflated bills. this keeps some folks away from services they need. this makes some folks default. a very very small minority know how the game is played and have the time and energy to do their own negotiations with the providers. usually you can negotiate the hospital down by 3x to 10x. crazy. but here we are. greatest health care in the world. no need to change a thing. but if we did change a thing i'd do it this way. tell the providers that they have to provide services for free equal in value to the services they charge for. things like stitches, annual checkups, bone settings, anti-biotics, whatever. let the plastic surgery clinics in rich neighborhoods hook up with the trauma centers in poor neighborhoods. timmer for president.