Thursday, January 13, 2011

Quick Links: Free Riders, MA, Privacy Breaches

Greg Scandlen talks about free riders in "Revisiting the Individual Mandate":
There is not yet a proposal that would end “free-ridership.” ObamaCare will continue a large number of people who are uninsured and getting free services, including illegal immigrants and people who simply don’t pay their bills. For all of the contortions and intrusions, the current law would at best reduce the problem, not solve it.

Further, virtually all of the expansion in coverage under ObamaCare is subsidized, either by free care under Medicaid or subsidized care under the Exchanges. If consuming, but not paying for, health services is free-riding, isn’t this institutionalized free-ridership?
Sally Pipes asks, "Has Massachusetts Experience Put ObamaCare On A Path To Repeal?" (IBD, 1/12/2011.)

The 1/11/2011 Denver Post reports on electronic security breaches in Colorado leading to the disclosure of private medical information of over 100,000 Medicaid patients.

As more hospitals and doctors' offices start adopting mandatory electronic medical records, how many more such incidents will we see?