No good deed...

So, what would you say about a doctor who offered his general practitioner services to the uninsured in New York City for $79/month for unlimited visits with a $10 co-pay for everything from mole removal to mammograms? You might call him innovative or perhaps even a blessing. Here's a man that is providing health care to those who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Pretty cool, huh?

Well the state of New York really doesn’t care what you would call him or what you think of him because, to them, he’s an outlaw.

But his plan landed him in the crosshairs of the state Insurance Department, which ordered him to drop his fixed-rate plan - which it claims is equivalent to an insurance policy. Muney insists it is not insurance because it doesn't cover anything that he can't do in his offices, like complicated surgery.

Not to worry – rather than being shut down, Dr. Muney raised his visit fees to $33 per to appease the state bureaucrats. Everybody goes away happy. Muney keeps his practice, the State effectively throws its weight around, screwing up a perfectly good plan and uninsured patients pay more out of pocket for their medical care. What’s not to like about that?

You all want it. You all think that somehow more regulation and more government involement in the health care industry will somehow keep medical costs down and here is a (yet another) perfect example of just how that would work.