I’ve been suprised by the lack of interest in health care reform this summer, with a real possibility for an initiative to break new ground. There just doesn’t seem to be a groundswell of interest.
To me, the prospect of ever spiralling health care costs bankrupting the country seems reason enough to “do something”. The USA, we’ve long known, spends a lot more than other nations while having health care outcomes that often are exceeded by other nations. And we also know those other nations have single payer health care plans.
I’m not an advocate for single payer – but I am an advocate for cost effective care. I’m not even necessarily an advocate for universal care – though I note that the USA has practically universal care, with costs, I think, currently passed on through the system by jacked up prices. I guess that’s open to debate; my hospital bills certainly don’t have a line item like, say, my Cable TV bill has, for upteen different categories of fees, nor have I run across casual reading on this subject.
Back when Republicans had full control of government, we learned that “entitlements” were going to spiral out of control and consume all of our future income. Their solution? Privatize Social Security, which is just a miniscule part of that problem. The real problem? Health care costs are projected to continue to grow exponentially at an unsustainable rate.
Judging from the CBO’s report on Congresses efforts so far on health care reform, it doesn’t appear that Democrats in congress have much more appetite than Republicans to grapple with the cost control issue.
And I wonder, why not? And why doesn’t the issue of health care reform seem to be capturing the attention of the bloggerati?
You want to light up the “bloggerati”? Get the President behind HR 676 and go for broke on single-payer. I guess I’d prefer the current proposal pass than not, but it sounds like a nationalization of the current MA system and that doesn’t thrill me.
that the Mass system hasn’t exactly lit up the imagination of Mass progressives.
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p>One thing I’ll grant to Deval Patrick; he was dealt a constrained hand by the outgoing governor, with significant plans to increase state costs for both health care as well as the Chapter 70 school funding formula – which has been phasing in for the past four years.
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p>Romney put in fairly popular and perhaps necessary reforms but didn’t establish any funding method other than “letting the good times roll” to fund them.
I don’t get it. Medicare has an unfunded liability of $74 TRILLION, not billion. We want to roll out a Medicare-like plan for all Americans? Why? (BTW, the public option isn’t an option if your company cancels your plan. You are required to go into the gvt plan.)
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p>I get it. Approval for Obama’s plan is TANKING as the details of the plan emerge so of course there’s no enthusiasm. The only one’s not reading it must be its supporters and Chinese government agents. (No slur against Chinese government agents intended. They’re only doing their job.)
You MUST resist the temptation to assume that people who don’t like Obama’s plan prefer the status quo. (As far as I can tell there is, big surprise, no counterproposal from the GOP.) I’m not enthusiastic about his plan either, but only because I don’t think it goes far enough. BTW, you’ve cited the Medicare liability numbers before, but I can’t recall you ever linking a source. The problem in my mind is that we’re NOT seriously considering rolling out a Medicare-like plan for all Americans. I’m also confused about your public option is not an option argument relative to an employer cancelling your plan. Under current circumstances if that happens you get nothing unless you can afford your own plan out of pocket. Is that really what you would prefer?
by Congress include none of these:
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p>- Costs must be contained.
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p>- There should be public care choice for anyone who wants to opt in to a public plan.
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p>- There must be universal coverage.
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p>Further, we already have the reforms here in MA Congress is debating.