INDY500
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Excellent article, INDY. It might surprise you to find I do agree with him almost 100%. The first paragraph captures exactly how I feel about the current health care reform law. A lot of my objections in these threads have been more to the partisan hyperbole, not to legitimate concerns.
I too feel that the third-party system is the primary cause of the escalating cost of health care. I like the idea of health care savings plans (and I seem to recall you're a fan of them too). I wonder if we'll be able to make the move that the Jim Marshall advocates though, whether people will be willing to do it. I think many Americans who have health insurance have gotten used to the "overcare" approach and would be nervous about giving it up.
I also agree with Irvine that if we're going to reduce the deficit, we really have to look at the areas that are costing the most--defense, social security, medicare and make some hard choices there.
What I've always been interested in is a balanced and thoughtful approach to the issues, which is a lot drier than the screaming "Obamacare!" and "socialism" and "Tea Baggers!" but would be far more productive.
What parts of the article did you disagree with, and what parts did you like?
I would agree with benji that the Congressman "low-balls" the effect the threat of lawsuits has on the cost of care. I can tell you that in a hospital the standard of care is not only the professional standard but also, unfortunately, what will be paid for and what we need in case of lawsuit. And you can be assured that the cost of malpractice insurance and lawsuit settlements is there on your bill, you just can't see it. Many specialties have been hit hard by frivolous suits as well, (obstetricians, vaccine makers, hospital supplies) which hurts competition, causes shortages and increases prices.
The congressman also fails to mention that part of the reason we pay more is we get more. The newest procedures, drugs and equipment is found here. We get the cutting edge stuff but we pay for it. Also, our drugs cost more because other countries have price controls forcing companies to make the bulk of their profits here. Fair? No.
The rest of the world benefits from our system (eventually getting the new stuff with little of the R&D costs and at below market prices) and as usual they just don't realize how much. When we implement cost controls where are tomorrow's miracle drugs going to come from?
Here's what I really like:
Today, only 10 - 15% of health care cost is paid for out of pocket where the patient has some idea of the cost, the rest by third-party payers. Until we change the incentives in the system, get that ratio reversed and separate "health care" from "health coverage" we will continue down the same road.Most Americans, however, should participate in a sufficiently robust private market for health-care services, a market that settles on a price and also sets the expected standard of care. Today, there is no such market for health care
Glad you liked the article.