Exhibit A<\/a>. What\u2019s this? \u00a0Aside from a picture of root beer, it\u2019s the default root beer of choice for our family. \u00a0For years, this was the goto for special cookouts: July 4, Memorial Day, Labor Day. \u00a0We bought root beer at other times of the year, usually the generic brand. \u00a0But on certain special occasions, we went all out and got the above brand. \u00a0The finest kind.<\/p>\nThis is not an indictment on the quality of the brand or anything. \u00a0It\u2019s still as tasty as ever. \u00a0But last year, when we went shopping\u00a0for one of the prime cookouts, we noticed a change. \u00a0There were only four bottles. \u00a0There had been, since before my first kiddo was born, six per pack. \u00a0Suddenly, there were four. \u00a0And there wasn\u2019t much of a price shift to match.<\/p>\n
Without warning, we were getting less for our money. \u00a0The company had concluded the best way to solve its\u00a0financial issues was\u00a0to provide less product while keeping the price the same. \u00a0Less for more.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m no economist, which is why I rarely\u00a0delve into this territory. \u00a0I\u2019m reminded of the old Bloom County cartoon strip, where young Binkley is haunted one night by two economists sitting in his bedroom, arguing about the economy. \u00a0 I just know that when it comes to root beer, such a decision is annoying and a little off-putting.<\/p>\n
When it comes to healthcare, however, it can be deadly. \u00a0If the bottom line is all that matters, and a company is willing to cut costs at the bottom rung through slashing services or diminishing quantity or quality, where does that leave me, the consumer?<\/p>\n
For cookouts, it leaves me with less root beer. \u00a0For health insurance, it leaves me, well, in trouble. \u00a0I know, I know. \u00a0People will ask do we still buy this brand? \u00a0Nope. \u00a0We\u2019ve gone with the usual generic. \u00a0Not as good, but for a family of seven, more affordable. \u00a0But that\u2019s the point. \u00a0It isn\u2019t as good. \u00a0Again, with root beer, it\u2019s a sacrifice I\u2019m willing to make.<\/p>\n
But my health? \u00a0My family\u2019s health? \u00a0At what point would I need to say, \u201cOh well, they just raised prices\/cut quality\/cut quantity, I suppose I\u2019ll settle for less quality care\u2019?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my problem with the market as healthcare provider. When was the last time anyone drove up to a gas station and an army of happy, smiling employees\u00a0descended on your car, cleaning\u00a0the windows, checking the oil, filling the tank? \u00a0Anyone recently?\u00a0 Yet I don\u2019t remember gas prices going down as those services dwindled.<\/p>\n
The bold boast of the free market, of the whole capitalist gig, seems to be to let the market do\u00a0it, and we\u2019ll have better employees making more money, and products and services will be at the best quality and quantities ever. \u00a0Competition will demand it, efficiency will provide it.<\/p>\n
As I look around, however, I can\u2019t help but wonder if, somehow, we\u2019ve turned a corner. \u00a0Somehow, corporations have figured that, while at first you might want to dangle some high quality for low cost, eventually the quality or quantity can be cut just the same. \u00a0Whenever I visit someone who lives in an old house, and compare it to houses built today, I think on that.<\/p>\n
Again, I\u2019m no economist, and my amateur observations are what they are. \u00a0Nor am I insisting that you can\u2019t love Jesus if you do or don\u2019t think thus about a free market solution vs. other solutions to healthcare. \u00a0It\u2019s just that, on my own level, in my own simple thinking, when it seems that the default approach today is to first cut quantity or even quality, while also cutting employees and benefits, I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s what I want calling the shots if I\u2019m in a hospital, hooked up to who knows what in order to keep me alive.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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