Makes You Wonder
Can you look at this sign I stole from the internet and see it for what it is? Honestly, without any political judgments, can you take a deep breath and go through each item and just ponder it for a second? Forget poor versus rich. Forget entitlements. Forget liberal versus conservative or Republican versus Democrat. You can believe in the foundation and cause of each of these items or not, it doesn’t really matter. The truth is that the sign is basically correct. There can be some shuffling of numbers and statistics to prove that it may be a little off but the point is the same…..they are broke and they are all government run. You can either fight this reality or try to make things better. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.” If these programs were not broke and were run efficiently then I think a mature argument can be made about having the government run our healthcare system. This is not to say that our system is not broken as it is or that it is affordable. It is not! But to put the government in charge…..well…..it will probably just get worse. The next sign should show all the third parties involved in our present healthcare system and see which ones need to be removed (insurance companies, administrators, bureaucrats, etc).
1. I try not to form my political/economic decisions on anonymous
signs from rallies (and in this case, it’s false data)
2. Where is the groundswell of anger from the victims of single-payer, govt.-run programs in other countries? My UK, French, and Canadian contacts feel sorry for us.
One thing you pro-government/”single payer” types might want to remember: none of the private insurance companies can put a doctor in jail.
Two years into private practice I quit accepting new Medicare, and if I were still there I would do it again.
try committing insurance fraud against BCBS and see if you dont go to jail
Yes, but would it be a civil suit, or criminal? With the Killer M’s, the latter holds.
In addition to being factually incorrect on a number of points, the sign ignores the fact the private sector of the US health care system has done far worse than the government run in almost every area.
Year after year, increases in spending and premium hikes are higher in private health plans than government-run ones, and the quality of care indicators do not show that they are providing better patient care. I think it’s quite telling that the insurers are complaining that health care reform is limiting their profits and overhead to ONLY 15%! Medicare overhead is around 3-4%, so which is more inefficient?
It is clear from looking around the world that the most efficient health care systems and the ones that provide the best health care are government-run. There is not a single example of a “free market” system that provides superior care at a better cost. Find me a nation that is considering reforming its health care system along the lines of what we have in the US, before or after the health care reform bill?
I’m sorry, but the only explanation I can see for this unshakable conviction that government involvement in health care will make matters worse is political.
David,
I trust you have already limited your practice to seeing just Medicaid and Medicare patients. Eventhough you find the reimbursement appropriate please feel free to fill your schedule since I know there will be plenty left over for the rest of us.
Neil
I have never seen a study that shows the U.S. has better quality health markers than anyone else. In fact of industrialized nations we are at the bottom.
We just have more toys, lawyers and fast service.
Banks- private- broke
GM, Ford, private – broke
AIG- private- broke
Real estate – private- broke
The reality is that amazingly, the feds provide health care at one half the overhead of the private insurance thieves.
What we need is a system like europe- single payer which is MANDATORY , then those who wish a higher level of care can take out a secondary insurance. My family in europe loves their healthcare system, as did my dad when he was a doctor there.
Of course, the big difference is that the eurpean systems care for europeans and our system cares for americans who are the worlds most demanding, entitled , wasteful, dependent, litigious and non accepting of death and ageing patients in the world.
What we really need is society reform and that aint gonna happen- so off to the islands I go- haha
Could add Defence Dept. PLENTY OF MONEY No problem there
“The truth is that the sign is basically correct.”
But it’s not. Social Security isn’t broke at all. (Really, it’s not. A tiny increase in the (horrifically regressive) payroll tax would leave SS in the black forever (dropping the cap would be way more than is required) and even without that, it’s in the black for several decades.) And what does it mean for a program that’s intended to spend money (Cash for Clunkers) to be broke? That makes no sense.
So your response is, in fact, extremely political. (FWIW, the US is in the best shape of all the developed countries for caring for our elderly, since we have the lowest ratio of elderly to employed. That we spend twice per capita what any other developed country does on health care, for worse results, is, of course, problematic.)
My response is not political. I am sorry you could only see it that way.
Well said!