Our politicians are great at selling you something that doesn't even exist.
"The promise of the public plan is a mirage. Its political brilliance is to use free-market rhetoric (more "choice" and "competition") to expand government power. But why would a plan tied to Medicare control health spending, when Medicare hasn't? From 1970 to 2007, Medicare spending per beneficiary rose 9.2 percent annually compared to the 10.4 percent of private insurers -- and the small difference partly reflects cost shifting. Congress periodically improves Medicare benefits, and there's a limit to how much squeezing reimbursement rates can check costs. Doctors and hospitals already complain that low payments limit services or discourage physicians from taking Medicare patients."
2 comments:
i don't even know why there's a debate on this.
creating a government run health insurance company will not work.
government has never and will never be more efficient than the private sector.
Every other industrial nation, including South Korea, has some form of universal healthcare. Read T.R. Reid's "The Healing of America" for a good description of the various systems. Some have single-payer, some do not. Some have numerous private, nonprofit insurance companies, in some cases supplemented by private, for profit, insurance plans that offer "extras", such as time in health spas or better accomodations. The various approaches all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they provide healthcare for all, generally at less than half of what we spend, per capita. If they can do it, I am confident that we can too, as we are the greatest nation on earth. As to whether we should, that is a political and moral decision, and must take into account our values and what type of nation we wish to be. I say we should and we can.
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