Comments on: A Historical Perspective on Health Care http://lorenzlammens.com/a-historic-perspective-on-health-care-reform/ The Online Notebook of Lorenz Lammens Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: A break down of health care profits | Taking Note http://lorenzlammens.com/a-historic-perspective-on-health-care-reform/comment-page-1/#comment-1940 A break down of health care profits | Taking Note Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:45:16 +0000 http://onlinedesignbureau.com/markings/?p=21#comment-1940 [...] read my historical perspective on health care. Share and [...] [...] read my historical perspective on health care. Share and [...]

]]> By: Tim http://lorenzlammens.com/a-historic-perspective-on-health-care-reform/comment-page-1/#comment-2 Tim Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:49:23 +0000 http://onlinedesignbureau.com/markings/?p=21#comment-2 Perhaps no Bi-Partisan solution can be reached, but it's not as if the problems aren't apparent to everyone, whatever your political persuasion. Costs are rising so fast that every day, more than 10,000 Americans lose their insurance coverage. In 1993, 61 percent of small businesses provided health insurance for their employees. Now that number is down to 38 percent. Larger firms face greater and greater health-care costs. And yet, Americans do worse on almost every health measure than most advanced industrial countries, which spend about half as much on health care per person and have proportionately more elderly people. The political debate that is taking place is unreal, with conservatives suggesting that Obama is endorsing euthanasia and murder boards, and turning America into Russia. (I guess they haven't noticed that Russia isn't communist anymore.) The lack of serious discussion is a tragedy, because the Democrats' proposals leave much to be desired. They include only a few, vague measures to rein in costs, and the chief one—a medical board—assumes (improbably) that Congress will cede massive powers to five unelected people who would have the power to deny people treatments and drugs. The likely scenario is that expanded coverage and new benefits will be enacted, while the cuts and curbs will be pushed off to be tackled another day. Health care is the nation's most serious long-term problem. But think of Social Security, government pension liabilities, state--government deficits, and energy dependence, and you face the same issue. Each one of these problems is getting worse by the day, and yet the political system seems unable to take them on and make major reforms. On these very important issues, America is caught in a downward spiral. It makes you wish for a crisis. Perhaps no Bi-Partisan solution can be reached, but it’s not as if the problems aren’t apparent to everyone, whatever your political persuasion. Costs are rising so fast that every day, more than 10,000 Americans lose their insurance coverage. In 1993, 61 percent of small businesses provided health insurance for their employees. Now that number is down to 38 percent. Larger firms face greater and greater health-care costs. And yet, Americans do worse on almost every health measure than most advanced industrial countries, which spend about half as much on health care per person and have proportionately more elderly people.

The political debate that is taking place is unreal, with conservatives suggesting that Obama is endorsing euthanasia and murder boards, and turning America into Russia. (I guess they haven’t noticed that Russia isn’t communist anymore.) The lack of serious discussion is a tragedy, because the Democrats’ proposals leave much to be desired. They include only a few, vague measures to rein in costs, and the chief one—a medical board—assumes (improbably) that Congress will cede massive powers to five unelected people who would have the power to deny people treatments and drugs. The likely scenario is that expanded coverage and new benefits will be enacted, while the cuts and curbs will be pushed off to be tackled another day.

Health care is the nation’s most serious long-term problem. But think of Social Security, government pension liabilities, state–government deficits, and energy dependence, and you face the same issue. Each one of these problems is getting worse by the day, and yet the political system seems unable to take them on and make major reforms. On these very important issues, America is caught in a downward spiral. It makes you wish for a crisis.

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