A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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July 02, 2005Is the horse dead yet?Here I go again. Another healthcare post. Maybe I'm the canary in the mineshaft (although I'm sure far more eloquent birds have since died) or just an annoying uncle who has the same old stories. Anyway. the march for Medicaid cuts continues. Here's the latest in Mississippi. Here's a nice little article (with pictures to tug at your heart) concerning Missouri. South Carolina has planned some significant cuts too. And no its not just red states. In Pa they're talkin' too. Even Dr. Dean's home state has wrestled with the issue. And here's a nice little gem outlining all 50 states Needless to say, the politics of this are loud Democratic protests and the standard "tough decisions have to made" Republican responses. We are, however, seeing growing Republican discomfort including governors (not surprising) and senators. While the politics and the policy issues are very complex I believe it still comes down to one key issue: the rising cost of health care. (see previous post regarding relationship between health care costs and health care coverage). Medicaid is an easy target because its a big part of state budgets and the recipients "may not vote for you anyway." Previous discussions have "degenerated" into a "sure is complicated" discussion. Is Health care like the weather: Everybody complains about it but no one wants to do anything about it Well its only going to get worse and the longer we procrastinate the harder the problem becomes. As Linda Richman would say "Discuss!" Posted by c3 at July 2, 2005 10:52 AMComments
What alternative is there to medicaid cuts in the face of rising health care costs? Without it, health care consumes a bigger and bigger portion of the government budget, forcing tax increases or cuts in things like education. States don't have the ability to continually run deficits like the Federal government, so these hard choices are rather immediate for them. You say the problem will only get worse the longer we procrastinate -- What supposed solution are we procrastinating on? Government can't really reduce health care costs. They can force a reduction in health care prices, with price controls. Reducing prices below what they would be under supply/demand creates shortages (waiting lists), and quality deteroration, maybe black markets. Posted by: Susan at July 2, 2005 12:55 PMWhat supposed solution are we procrastinating on?Susan, any solution IMHO would need to broaden coverage AND control expenses. Among the targets for expense reduction would be drugs, expensive and questionably beneficial technology, reductions in hospital stays, reductions in payments to providers (hospitals and physicians). Even with draconian measures I suspect we'd in the long-run still need to put more dollars into the system. Notice I don't say the "T" word. Posted by: c3 at July 2, 2005 04:34 PMAny reform that reduces payments or attempts to control prices will be opposed by some of the strongest lobbies in the country. The political will in Washington is not strong enough to directly go against the AMA, drug companies AND the health insurers. A good first step to reducing costs with Medicaid or Medicare is to allow them to negotiate on Rx drugs, exclude certain maintanence drugs(allergy and ED come to mind)and somehow reduce the use of the ER as a clinic. Any trip to the ER is WAY more expensive than a trip to a physician's office. Perhaps by charging a higher copay for ER services than for clinic or physician's office visits people will be less inclined to go to the ER for a cold. |
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