On the recordMarch 17, 2010
And that is that if somebody else is paying the bills, then you're going to have an explosion of cost. When I'm in town hall meetings, this is the way I like to put it. I say, I have a credit card here, and of course it's a virtual credit card. It has a $10,000 limit on it. I'm going to give you this credit card, and you can take it to Wal-Mart or Home Depot or anyplace you want, but only buy the things you need. Nothing that you want; only what you need. And, you know, my question is, what do you need? And of course, the answer always comes back, well, I need a new shotgun because hunting season is coming up and I need some more camo, and I need, need, need. I need all kinds of things that I wouldn't pay out-of-pocket for myself; but if somebody else is paying for it, I'm willing to do it. So if you take that and apply it to this, and what I've witnessed over 30 years, when it comes to HMOs, capitated models, traditional insurance, no co-pays, high co-pays, what we find is that the more somebody else, a third party or insurance or government, is paying the bills, the more consumption occurs.
