It does happen occasionally. I already admitted to having voted for Lyndon Johnson on the assumption that he would be less likely than Goldwater to get us into a war. Now, 46 years later, I may possibly have erred once again.
It happens occasionally, every 40-50 years anyway.
I'm talking about health care reform. Looking at the rest of the world paying less and getting more led me to believe that our own government could institute a health care plan that might improve our own.
Now, I'm beginning to think that our government is far too polarized and way too inept to come up with a workable national plan.
Possibly, it is time for the feds to throw up their hands, admit defeat, and deregulate the health care system entirely.
A single payer system is not going to happen, probably not in my lifetime anyway, and the current system is unsustainable. The alternative is for the federal government to ease itself out of the system altogether.
But not until we come up with a real way to limit costs. As it is, we must have an employer based health insurance plan until we're eligible for Medicare, and eliminating Medicare all at once would leave seniors with no place to turn.
So, given that there is no public option, no real reform, no cost containment, and no real debate on the solution, what is next?
Tort reform and more competition among insurers is a start, but it isn't going to keep medical care from growing out of reach of the middle class, and rather soon at that.
It happens occasionally, every 40-50 years anyway.
I'm talking about health care reform. Looking at the rest of the world paying less and getting more led me to believe that our own government could institute a health care plan that might improve our own.
Now, I'm beginning to think that our government is far too polarized and way too inept to come up with a workable national plan.
Possibly, it is time for the feds to throw up their hands, admit defeat, and deregulate the health care system entirely.
A single payer system is not going to happen, probably not in my lifetime anyway, and the current system is unsustainable. The alternative is for the federal government to ease itself out of the system altogether.
But not until we come up with a real way to limit costs. As it is, we must have an employer based health insurance plan until we're eligible for Medicare, and eliminating Medicare all at once would leave seniors with no place to turn.
So, given that there is no public option, no real reform, no cost containment, and no real debate on the solution, what is next?
Tort reform and more competition among insurers is a start, but it isn't going to keep medical care from growing out of reach of the middle class, and rather soon at that.
