Dems stumble on health care roll out
The Hill:
It is going to take more than magic thinking to solve this problem.
The NY Times tries to argue away the problem of rationed health care by claiming we already ration it, but we don't do so the way the rationed health care countries like Canada and the UK do. It is a problem that cannot be defined away.
The capitalist system rations most goods and services by price.
One of the problems of health care is that we have separated the payer from the recipient of the services so that price is no longer a consideration. This drives up the use of the service. Whenever you then try to control cost you have to find another mechanism for controlling the use and the only available one is to limit access. That is what Canada and the UK both do. They have committees who decide who gets what health care.
Congressional Democrats and the White House are scrambling to regain their footing after a series of setbacks has stalled political momentum to reform the nation’s healthcare system.There has always been a sense of unreality about the Democrat health care plans. Such fundamental elements as costs and how to pay for it were ignored and replaced by an air of haughty confidence that now seems misplaced. When they get to specifics it does not work.
Despite having a popular president in the White House and comfortable majorities in Congress, the Democratic rollout on healthcare reform has encountered significant bumps in the road.
A cost estimate hanging a $1 trillion price tag on an incomplete bill, salvos from powerful interest groups and great uncertainty among key Democrats on what will actually be in the legislation that moves through Congress have emboldened Republican critics.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee postponed the markup of its healthcare reform bill by one day, to Wednesday. On the eve of that markup, the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce publicly ripped the bill.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) initially planned to release his bill Wednesday, but he has pushed back his timetable because of cost estimate concerns.
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It is going to take more than magic thinking to solve this problem.
The NY Times tries to argue away the problem of rationed health care by claiming we already ration it, but we don't do so the way the rationed health care countries like Canada and the UK do. It is a problem that cannot be defined away.
The capitalist system rations most goods and services by price.
One of the problems of health care is that we have separated the payer from the recipient of the services so that price is no longer a consideration. This drives up the use of the service. Whenever you then try to control cost you have to find another mechanism for controlling the use and the only available one is to limit access. That is what Canada and the UK both do. They have committees who decide who gets what health care.
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