In the spirit of Mark Clifton's essay, I give you the Daily Show Panel on Health Care Reform:| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Healther Skelter - Obama Death Panel Debate | ||||
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And there must be reform. Our current system, for all that it does well, is not sustainable, and is increasingly motivated by corporate profit. Among other things, the insurance industry has created a self-interested bureaucracy that is growing like a cancer.
Perhaps a disclaimer is in order: I an employed by a medical school, and arguably benefit when the health care industry make a good profit.
[Update]
My son asked me my opinion on health care reform after watching that Daily Show episode. And in explaining my views to him it occurred to me that medicine has a well established code of ethics, the first of which is "Do No Harm." Insurance coverage is increasing becoming a key part of health care, but the insurance industry is not bound by the same code of ethics. I think a successful reform should mandate that insurance companies operate within similar ethical guidelines.
[update: typo ... grrr]
My good friend Matt responded on Facebook because of difficulty posting here. I am reposting our discussion here with Matt's permission.
ReplyDeleteMC: Couldn't figure out your comment system... so:
"no harm" is going to be a pretty tough puppy to pin down... Barring tort reform, I'd just stop doing anything, were I an insurance company. Are we going to start punishing people for not running their business? Spooky stuff.
It all boils down, IMHO, to whether this is even something the government should be involved in, other than safety and anti-monopoly regulations. I'd suggest that the answer is no.
DCE: I didn't say it would be easy, just that it is needed.
(Government) Doing nothing is an option too, but that won't stop change. As costs continue to rise, more and more people won't be able to afford coverage, the industry will reform or fail due to lack of customers. That's the "open market" solution. It's going to be difficult and painful either way.
MC: Given that people/evil corporations like to make money, I suspect that if nobody can buy a product, price will come down until they can.
DCE: Certainly. What I was getting at, perhaps too indirectly, is that there are costs to be paid one way or another. I don't deny there is a cost to reform, but there is also a cost to not-reforming.
I'm in a position where I see where some of the profits from health care go, and who pays the cost. There are some enormous profits, and a lot of disparity in who pays the cost, and even in who receives the services. I agree Anti-monopoly regulations are a good place to start, but I would suggest that alone is not enough.
Disclosure: I benefit indirectly from the profits on health care, because that funds some of the research I work on.