Aug 14
One thing I heard at the meeting from most people was that the current system needed improvement.
If you exclude the the hard core single payer advocates, an off her rocker Communist professor from Dixie College, and strict Constitutionalists who believe the federal government has no role in this area what so ever, I think some common and useful ground was shared by most in the room:
- The current system heads for failure. Most thought our current system provided excellent care but was headed for trouble due to costs. Most want changes to head off the looming disaster.
- Most wanted cost reforms that did not affect service. Common requests were legal reform, national health insurance markets, and making sure those who could afford insurance bought it.
- Most wanted to try new things in the state laboratories, not on a national scale, and not in one month.
- Most agreed that we should help people who are uninsurable.
- Most wanted to focus on easy low hanging fruit cost savings that did not require investment in these deficit laden times.
- Most wanted doctors deciding services, not bureaucrats
An enterprising politician, who actually wanted to accomplish what the people want would focus on these areas of agreement. Perhaps that is what the Senate is doing. I hope so, but am very dubious.
August 14th, 2009 at 12:16 am
[...] Was there any agreement in the crowd? I think so – and I wrote a post about it. [...]
August 14th, 2009 at 10:36 am
And most knew next to nothing about health care economics???
August 14th, 2009 at 11:57 am
so you mean the list of common ground was economically wrong? How is tort reform wrong? Or national markets?
Quite a few of the socialists don’t understand economics. That I’ll conceded, but I excluded them from the common ground. Just like I excluded, for practical rather than philosophical reasons, the folks who think the Fed gov has no role.