Health Care at a Crossroads
Posted by : John.LaPlante October 16, 2008 - 1:27pm
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Our current system of health care is in tatters. Oh sure, the technology is great, and the science is, too. But there are many problems with our health care system, including:
- Job lock: People stay in jobs they're not fit for, happy in, or productive in, simply because their health insurance is tied to their place of employment.
- Millions of uninsured: The numbers of people who are reported as uninsured (about 47 million) are inflated, if you take into account the number of people who could enroll in public programs but haven't, those who could afford insurance but don't want it, and the "young invincibles" who think they don't need it. Still, that leaves millions more wanting insurance but priced out of the market.
- Public programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP that grow even while employment-based insurance declines.
The problem, some people argue, is that the market has failed us. Au contraire; the market is very distorted when it comes to health care.
Government restricts who can enter the medical field, with the largest beneficiaries being current workers who enjoy artificially inflated salaries. Through "Certificate of Need" laws, governments decide how many hospitals and other medical facilities are "enough" or "too much" for an area.
Regulations on individual insurance policies drive up their costs.
Special tax breaks for employer-paid insurance give a disadvantage to people who want to buy insurance on their own.
There are many other ways in which government distorts the peaceful, voluntary interaction of people in providing and receiving health care.
The old system won't hold much longer. We have two choices: More government control, or more consumer/patient freedom.
Most of the attention is focused on the federal government, which is understandable. But there are many good--and bad--things that state governments are doing. Add your comments, find out about health care policy from a free-market perspective, and promote freedom, not bureaucracy.
You can read more about health care policy, with a focus on state and local governments, at http://www.statehousecall.org, where I serve as editor.
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Immigration is a Red Herring
I'd agree that trial lawyers are part of the problem, though let's not overstate that. As far as illegal immigration, I think that is for the most part a red herring.
First of all, illegal immigrants do pay taxes if they live in a state that has a sales tax. And if they purchase or gin up a phony SSAN, they are paying Medicare taxes for services that may never receive--a net bonus to the system.
Second, any contribution that illegal aliens make towards the high cost of health care and health insurance is swamped by other factors, such as government restrictions on the supply of doctors and hospitals, regulations on insurance, and the fact that the tax code makes the actual spending on health care and insurance obscure.
See, for example:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9640
http://healthcareblog.spn.org/are-illegal-aliens-the-problem
Been to San Diego Lately?
How can you overstate the billions of dollars that trial lawyers are costing the health care industry? And, if you think illegal immigration is a red herring, go visit the emergency rooms in San Diego. They are filled with illegal aliens who have surreptitiously crossed the border to have an "anchor baby" or get free health care. Do you think illegal aliens are out there purchasing enough goods to generate billions of dollars in sales tax? Hardly!
Steve McCullough
http://www.stevemc2.com
less govt.- more free market
Govt. is indeed at the heart of what's wrong with our system. The more flexible insurance companies can be w/their offerings...and the more more competition there can be among them from state to state, the better off consumers will be.
I'm self employed and switched to a high-deductable plan attached to a health savings account w/Humana about a year ago and I love it. Too bad people know so little about those kind of options.
Want to Lower Health Care Costs?
Here are two big problems which lead directly to the high cost of health care:
1. Illegal Immigration: Services which cost millions of dollars are provided for free to illegal aliens.
2. Trial Lawyers: Doctors, drug companies and hospitals must spend exorbitant amounts to either purchase liability insurance or settle lawsuits. You cannot turn on the television during the day without seeing ad after ad from ambulance chasing lawyers looking to bring a class action suit against a health care provider.
The cost for health care coverage will never be reduced until these two issues are dealt with.
Steve McCullough
http://www.stevemc2.com