快樂牛郎

On one hand these post-80s complain about all the mistreatments they have got.

On the other hand they are the group of people who have the lowest economic contribution to the society.

I don't know why they even complain about the $65 billion the highspeed train costs, since many of them don't need to pay anything.

快樂牛郎

Comparing the HK post-80s to the 20s of China is just a joke.
rockypath 發表於 2010/1/19 17:17

HK is full of jokes

快樂牛郎

我係from香港......不如比翻1萬銀港紙我....最多我以後唔坐膠鐵！
alex23317 發表於 2010/1/20 15:58

Why should they give you $10K when you didn't pay anything?

快樂牛郎

That should be privatized because it is not making money now.  When the price is low enough, someone will buy it.

Traffic jam?? we should build more roads and highways.

Carbon dioxide is not pollutant.

But would it save you any money in the long run if it's privatized?

If you want more roads and highways, who will pay for them?
If demands for oil pick up and gas prices move up again, car drivers will also have to spend more

快樂牛郎

It's not enough to discuss the profitability of something in isolation.  You also have to evaluate the cost of not having it and pick the one with lower cost.

快樂牛郎

If it is privatized, I don't have to subsidize those sky train and bus passengers.

The tax on gasoline is a way to pay for the cost of roads and highways

Right, if price of gasoline moves up again ...
kipposhi 發表於 2010/2/8 11:05

Subsidization happens in every sector and layer of society.  It's impossible to eliminate subdization completely.
So I don't agree that transit should be the one to get rid of.

If you want translink to be privatized, why not medicare, or education

快樂牛郎

We should allow heath care industry in the private sector too.

US welcomes you!.  Make sure you have $8,000 a year for medical premium though.

快樂牛郎

The health care insurance is very expensive.  This is because of the government regulation resulting in increase of premium.
kipposhi 發表於 2010/2/8 14:17

PARDON ME??

Which part of the US regulation is driving up medicare cost?

快樂牛郎

1.  People in US cannot buy health insurance across the state border.  The population size for each pool is very limited.  This will increase the premium.

This is just an adminstration issue.  Insurance companies can sell insurance in other states, as long as they are approved by the regulators.  Almost all physicians have contracts with insurance providers.  Imagine the overhead if you have 60 different insurers selling insurance in one city.  How many different claim systems do you need?  At the end, a doctor would only pick a couple insurers to work with.  This limits your accessibility as a patient.  Consolidations might happen over the long run, leading to a few major players dominating the entire country.  However, this is not what the government wants and I am not sure if it's really good for the consumers.

2.  Health insurance plans have to include clinical care.  As the expected claim number increases, the premium will increase too.

What exactly do you mean by clinical care?  You mean regular office visits and preventive care? It's inpatient stays in hospitals that are driving medical costs up.  You talked about utilizations going up but didn't talk about the cost side.  You could have a lot of office visits but each only costs $100 - $150 where as a hospital stay can cost you $100K.

快樂牛郎

Selling health insurance across the state border is illegal.

???  You can definitely sell insurance in multiple states.  You just need a separate plan for each.

Yes, I mean regular office visit.  This is one of the reasons driving the premium up.

I dunno where you got your information from.  It's pretty obvious that preventive care lowers medical cost.

The cost of outpatient usually is not high.  But when this kind of service has to be included in health insurance, the premium will go up as the expected claims increase even the insureds do not claim it.

So I guess what you are saying is that office visits are included in your premium but many people do not see the doctor regularly.  So what you are suggesting is a catastrophe plan that only covers major hospital visits.  If this is the case, people would stay away from going to their family doctors and hit the ER every single time.

Many laws passed by the government are ridiculous.  Lobbying in US by special interest groups and unions is a very serious problem.

Lobbying is a product of privatization.  Get your logic straight.  I have not seen medical providers or drug companies lobbying the Canadian government.