Pete C. wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
It gets corrupted from time to time, but in the end the market
place usually comes up with the right answer to this kind of
question.
Yeah..... except healthcare
Our health care system works well, 86% of our ~350M population has
health insurance and of the remaining 14% a good number have it
available, but choose not to take it.
Our health care system is far from broken and while you can readily
come up with a few percent of the population with health care horror
stories in the US, Canada, UK, etc. and make emotional news stories
out of them, the fact is that the number is an extremely small
percentage of the population.
What US health care needs is refinement, not reform. Tighter controls
on insurance companies, more consumer protection, and a bit better
method for handling the bottom few percent of the population than the
current emergency room strategy. Doctors also need to rationalize the
fact that theirs is no longer a gold mine career path and they may
need to live with a smaller yacht and house.
You make some good points. I would argue for LESSER controls on insurance
companies - let the market decide.
As it is now, individual states mandate all manner of restrictions on
insurance companies. For example, health insurance companies, in some
states, must provide coverage for mental health, acupuncture, chiropractic,
aroma therapy, substance abuse rehabilitation, homeopathy, phrenology, or
all manner of fringe silliness. If someone wants to buy a policy without
'breast augmentation to improve self esteem,' then they should be able to do
so.
Further, one must not lose sight of the essential fact that lack of health
insurance is NOT the same thing as lack of health care.
Joke:
Over the dinner table at the home of a pediatrician
Wife: "Honey, I had lunch with Madge today. We need to up our Pfizer stock.
Meanwhile, at the surgeon's house:
Wife: "Honey, I had lunch with Doris today. We need to stock up on Viagra."