ShrinkWrapped posts Preparing for the “Healthcare Reform in the United States” Debate: Beware of GIGO. (GIGO = Garbage In, Garbage Out)
There is simply no way to maintain “access to high standards of medical care” and “continuously enhanc(ing) … cutting edge technological innovation” and “expanding access to health care” all the while “without increasing expenditure(s)”. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you snake oil; if you believe these claims are true you are simply mathematically illiterate and should not take part in the discussion.
ShrinkWrapped, who is a medical doctor, points out three fallacies in the pro-government healthcare monopoly argument as laid out in this Salon article, and how
comparing populations that are different from each other and/or defining your terms differently, comparisons become meaningless.
I would add to ShrinkWrapped’s list one issue that will be pressing to the current baby boom generation: the rationing of healthcare.
All the countries who currently have government-provided healthcare monopolies have strict guidelines and age limits for the most expensive procedures, particularly but not limited to organ transplants.
So, do you want a government bureaucrat looking at an actuarial table and deciding if you should have a transplant, a knee replacement, a coronary bypass, or chemotherapy? Of course, if you have enough money (assuming what’s left of the economy leaves you with enough means to do so) you can avail yourself of medical tourism, the way the Europeans are doing right now. Bangkok for a coronary bypass, or Chennai (audio alert for link) India for knee replacement?
I predict an exodus of medical techonology, a shortage of physicians as they have in France, and a huge Medicare-like mess at taxpayer’s expense.
When has creating a single-payor government-run monopoly benefited a country?
And, no, the “healthcare crisis” did not tank the economy.
UPDATE
Today’s Miracle, Tomorrow’s Tragedy
