> jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com wrote:
>
>> > If the government paid everyone's health insurance bills,
>>> as those in Canada and most of Europe do, Detroit's Big Three
>>> could save at least $1,300 per vehicle. Profitability would return.
>>
>>Where do people come up with this stuff? Where does this guy think the
>>money would come from for "the government" to pay it? Are they just going
>>to print it? Are they just going to get it from a different industry than
>>auto?
>
> Fitch is a smart guy, and I'm sure he knows that the money would come from
> broad taxation. Everyone who follows the auto industry quotes figures like
> this - US factories are at a significant cost disadvantage with Canada,
> for example, despite being on the same continent and paying similar wages.
>
> Doug
-----------------------------
Also, a single payer plan would be cheaper to administer and would contain
drug costs in lieu of a multiplicity of ineffective smaller plans. You could
also levy a payroll tax on employers which would still be substantially less
as a percentage of earnings than they currently pay in premiums to private
insurers. In Canada, some provinces collect health care payroll taxes,
including Ontario and Quebec, and they should all do so.
Where could the government find the money? Hmmmmn...that's a tough one. Withdrawing from Iraq and repealing the administration's tax cuts come immediately to mind, and creative minds can come up with other redistributive suggestions... :)
MG