Stargate: Universe – How to Get Home
I’m still watching Stargate: Universe, but it’s not really grabbing me yet. So far, it’s just “shortage of the week”, and I’m not all that enthusiastic.
The bigger issue I have with the show is that no one has mentioned that every single character who wants to come home can do so pretty easily.
How? Read on.
I’m a little behind the times on this one, since Governor Manchin has already backed down from his call to charge PEIA insurance members who’re overweight more than others, but I still wanted to say something.
I am torn on this. On the one hand, it makes sense to charge those who have (or likely will have) a higher utilization rate more for their health insurance than those who are less likely to do so. After all, the insurance industry lives on risk assessments. On the other hand, why single out people because of their weight? Can we charge more for smokers? We could probably get away with that, since smoking is similarly uncool.
What about charging more for anyone who owns an ATV? Drinks alcohol? Doesn’t get enough sun (Vitamin D deficiency, you know)? Gets too much sun, or uses a tanning bed? Drives a convertible? A motorcycle? The list of potential risk factors go on and on, and I guarantee that if you think about it enough, you’ll come up with something you personally enjoy that would increase your risks (and, thus, your costs).
It’s easy to point the finger at people who’re unhealthy in an “uncool” way (i.e., they weigh too much) and say, “You’re driving up the insurance costs, and that’s not fair. You should pay more.” When that finger gets pointed at you, though, it’s usually a different story.
That said, it does make sense from a purely objective standpoint. Those who use more health services cost insurance companies more, and the insurance companies have to make that money somewhere. Either they have to charge everyone more, or they have to be allowed to charge more based on an honest risk assessment.
When we’re talking about a voluntary association, I don’t really have a problem with these sorts of risk-based charges, even when they would mean I would have to pay more.
What if we’re not talking about a voluntary association, though?
This is one of the things that scares me the most about the push for the government to pay for healthcare. We’ve already seen in the past few weeks what happens when businesses take government money (i.e., the government suddenly gives itself the right to set the pay of your employees[a] ). What do you think will happen to you if you accept the government paying for your health care?
Asking The People to take care of you is more than just asking Them (Us?) to take responsibility for you – it’s giving Them (Us) power over you. Expecting to take one and not the other is foolish, and while the initial government health initiative may appear to work that way, it will inevitably destroy every meaningful type of liberty in our society.