Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Election update: what about health care?

from the Economist:

All the Democratic candidates, for instance, and none of the Republicans, are proposing some version of universal health coverage ...

Republicans prefer to concentrate on the cost side of health insurance, which makes sense. Health-care costs have risen, on average, 2.5 percentage points faster than GDP annually for four decades. That means, among other things, that the costs of the government-funded medical programmes—Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor—will bust the budget unless they are radically reformed. The Republicans further charge that Democratic plans to stop insurers excluding people with pre-existing medical conditions will hugely increase the cost of premiums.

Republicans focus much more closely than the Democrats do on using market mechanisms to bring down costs. John McCain, for instance, suggests allowing more competition across state borders. Along with Rudy Giuliani and Mr Romney, he also favours a much wider use of tax deductions. This would allow more people than just those lucky enough to have jobs that offer health insurance to benefit from what is, in effect, a large government subsidy.

2 comments:

  1. One of my concerns about the health care debate in the United States is that it seems that we have not answered the central question to the debate. I believe that question to be, "Is equal health care for everyone a right or a privilege?"

    If you believe that it is a right that everyone must have then you are likely in the Democrat camp on the issue. Universal health care has worked in many countries, but has had the side effect of killing innovation. Other countries look to the United States for most new treatments and techniques. The market drives this innovation.

    However, if you believe that equal health care is a privilege then you are more likely in the Republican camp. The reality is that tax breaks and other mechanisms to reduce costs may actually reduce costs for some, but will not benefit all Americans. There is no way that a market for health care can be equal since no market treats everyone equally.

    Thus, I believe that the true referendum in next year's election is whether EQUAL health care is a right or a privilege for Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Right = pay more taxes and everyone gets the same level of care, whether its what you want/need. Rationing ensues. You die waiting for the operation even if you COULD pay.

    Privilege = You get what you pay for and if you cant afford it then you go with less and die because you dont get the operation because your COULD NOT pay.

    The debate of our lives is at hand, but either way you die.

    ReplyDelete