Health Care

I'm posting again. It's been a while and perhaps no one will read this. We'll see.

Here's an interesting post about universal health care. The author points out a fact I had not fully realized until one of my economics professors pointed it out last week - the United States already has socialized health care. The problem is we are only half way there. We guarantee health care to the elderly, the non-working poor (I'm not entirely clear on this point, so correct me if I'm wrong), and our E.R.'s are open to anyone.

The sad state of our health care is obvious when we consider that "the United States... spends much more per capita on health care than any other country," yet "does not achieve better outcomes on many important health measures.." Why do we spend so much? I don't know, entirely, but it seems to be connected with the fact that we have allowed the government to make certain laws that hurt the efficiency of the market, but will not let it step in to help.

I believe setting up a system that guarantees health care to everyone is right and just. Can we do that without sacrificing other things? No. We may be a little less affluent as a nation, but is it right to have some healthy rich people and a lot of dying poor people? The fact is, if we do this right, we will reduce the costs of the health care system.

I am not arguing for socialized medicine. Private hospitals, private doctors, etc. will provide more efficient heath care. But we must change the system so more people have access to it at a lower cost. How? I do not know. Is the Congress on its way to doing so? I hope so. There are a lot of smart people up there debating this. The problem is the incentives are not necessarily there for them to do what's best for the country. The incentives push them to do what's best for their constituents.

I'm tempted to go on a tangent about a whether the system we have set up - called Congress - is effective or not. But, I'm out of time.

We have serious problems with health care. We need to do something. I am glad those in power are doing something. I hope as I research it, I find that it makes sense.