Tag Archives: lasik

Americans: Why Are We Working to Build More Debt?

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It’s a four-letter word, and one I find almost as offensive as that other kind of four-letter word: debt. And while it should strike fear into the heart of every person, we just keep racking it up.

I heard one example on my way to work that was disguised as an easy way to pay for a LASIK vision procedure. Here’s my recollection of a portion of the commercial script that I found troubling:

Wife: “Go get LASIK.”
Husband: “But we can’t afford it.”
Wife: “Of course we can afford it, they have financing available.”

Uh-oh. Being able to afford something and being able to finance something is not the same thing. As a matter of fact, if you have to finance a product (that great pair of red pumps from the shoe store, a medical procedure such as LASIK eye surgery, etc.) that actually means you can’t afford it. Financing equals debt.

Here’s another alarming trend I read about recently in TIME magazine: according to a new study from CardHub.com, America is working to increase its collective credit card debt by $54 billion in 2011. The article goes on: in 2009, Americans actually reduced their credit card debt and added $9 billion in new credit card debt in 2010.

That means people were being smarter about their spending during the economic recession – or less able to be approved for credit cards. But, either way it means more people were actually living within their means.

I’m not sure where this turn-around from two years ago has come from. Possibly it’s similar to a teenager tasting his or her first bit of freedom after being grounded for a month – Americans are trying to make up for that time locked away without the ability to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

The TIME article made conclusions that the increase in credit card debt is similar to the subprime mortgage crisis of a few years ago – what many say propelled us into the recession. I’m confident that no one wants a repeat just two or three years later with credit card debt to blame this time.

Getting out of debt is not easy and it’s not quick – but the first step is to stop accruing debt: No more credit cards, no more financing.

So, someday when I get LASIK, I’ll have worked to save the money and will be able to truly afford it – no financing for me, thank you very much. What about you? Are you relying on credit cards and financing or are you working to get out of that vicious debt cycle?

Reason Magazine Takes “Clearer Look” at Health Care Reform

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"We have this insane system now where you need health care, you’re the buyer, I’m the doctor, I’m the seller of health care — and somebody else pays the bill. Who the heck is gonna shop for price when somebody else is paying the bill? … I think Lasik (eye surgery) can act as a model for health care reform." – Dr. Robert Maloney

In the video at the bottom of this post, Reason Magazine also makes an interesting case about how, traditionally, the length of time the average worker has had to work to afford certain things in America, from food to jeans to electricity, has dramatically decreased based on competition-induced price drops. They contend, like many, that applying these free market principles to health care would have the same impact.

In contrast, I’ve also heard detractors claim the free market can’t truly work in health care because the seller is the agent for the buyer (meaning the doctor has incentives to peddle certain products to patients for his/her benefit, not necessarily theirs).

At any rate, here’s the video. Where do YOU fall in this debate?

Stossel to Economic Club: Innovation Will Die as Government Grows

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John Stossel, former ABC journalist and soon-to-be host on Fox Business Network, has won 19 Emmys for making viewers think. He did just that today as well, addressing nearly 950 attendees of the Economic Club of Indiana luncheon.

The key focus of today’s discussion was health care reform. Stossel notes his hesitation at referring to "Obamacare" as reform due to his contention that it won’t really improve anything. Prior to the speech, a video was shown in which he points out that Lasik eye surgery costs have dropped significantly over time in the free market, and tied that to the fact that the surgery is not covered by insurance (adding that costs of procedures that are covered have climbed over the same span).

"Obama says the current (health care) system is unsustainable, and he’s right," Stossel offered. "Medicare is $36 trillion in the hole."

Stossel referred to the program as a Ponzi scheme, adding, "We locked Bernie Madoff up for this."

He contended that though some may claim Europe has been successful with its government-oriented health care, the continent is reaping benefits of American innovation when it comes to procedures and technology.

"If you ask doctors what have been the most significant developments in the past 20 years… most are from the United States," Stossel said. "Europe is freeloading on American innovation. If the government gets more involved, the innovation will stop."

Additionally, he offered an indictment of community rating, quipping, "If they did that for car insurance, you’d be paying the same as Lindsay Lohan."

Possible solutions from Stossel included allowing insurance companies to offer different types of plans for different people, allowing those plans to cross state lines, and to promote tort reform (touting a "loser pays" system, something he claims the rest of the world already does).

When asked how he developed his "brand" as a libertarian and contrarian in the media, he claimed, "I think it comes from not going to journalism school. I just thought about what I would want to watch." 

For more from Stossel on these and other matters, see his July op-ed from Reason magazine and check your local listings for his new show.