Two Canaries in a Political Minefield
The great American debate about health care reform is dominated by three voices. One voice advocates government-sponsored, single payer universal health insurance. Another advocates mandated private health insurance based on free market principles. The third seeks a mutually acceptable compromise that will serve as the first step in a transition to affordable, high-quality health care for all.
quick thought... I love how the far left (i.e. centerist democrats) want the compromise. What does that make those who want single payer?--which is extremely popular with the American public by the way...
In many ways, the history of American health care reform parallels the discouraging history of American energy independence. Over the past century, the American health care industry has spawned an ever-increasing number of special interests that will do whatever it takes to protect their turf, whether it's playing fast and free in the open market, currying favor with legislators and regulators, or using fear tactics to block efforts to overcome fragmentation and narrow self-interest. It's not hard to find villains to blame for our health care crisis, and blaming others is something we've learned to do very, very well. It's much easier than making difficult decisions about how to preserve individual choice while conserving scarce resources needed to serve the common good.
And then you'll certainly hear about "Canada this... Canada that..." as if Canada was the only system out there? What about Germany--which I personally prefer to Canada's system... sorry about the digression...
Like life and liberty, health care may be a right to which all are entitled, but does this right entitle us to insist that society pay for costly, inappropriate care?
no
Including all-expenses-paid MRIs in all-expenses-paid emergency rooms as part of the routine care of sprained ankles may generate peace of mind for patients and additional revenue for emergency rooms and their staffs and suppliers, but this type of profligate but not uncommon behavior is unsustainable, even for the richest and most powerful nation on earth. Unfortunately, when faced with the need to sacrifice and compromise to create a politically acceptable system that provides coordinated cost-effective health care for all Americans, some on the left respond simplistically with "single payer or bust."
Out-of-control health care spending lies at the root of what some have called an "entitlement crisis." This is misleading, however. The problem isn't Medicare (which in some instances is more efficient than our private health care system) or Social Security but accelerating health care costs, which according to Peter Orszag, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, are a "driving force in our long-term fiscal gap." If we fail to bring health care costs under control, they will overwhelm us, "reducing workers' take-home pay" and "crowding out" spending by state governments on "other priorities" (http://tiny.cc/AlNvg).
America has been wringing its collective hands about energy independence and health care reform for decades but has done very little about either. Instead, we've squandered our economic capital on disposable consumer goods in the belief that we can continue indefinitely eating our cake and having it too. It's gotten so bad we don't seem to be able to distinguish between borrowing to enjoy today and borrowing to invest in our future.
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