Moving The Debate

Drum's thoughts on health care:

This hardly solves every problem.  In particular, it doesn't do much to rein in costs.  But if you combine (a) Medicare, (b) our current employer-based insurance regime, and (c) community rating along with subsidies for low-income families, you've essentially institutionalized universal healthcare insurance.  Not everyone will take advantage of it there will always be a few people who go without coverage even if it's affordable and you still a need a few other things like out-of-pocket caps.  Still, it's basically a statement that everyone in the country can and should be covered.  And once that becomes a cultural norm, it will never go away.

But how do you contain costs after you have mandated coverage? The health care industry will make more money if everyone is covered. If you don't make them commit to serious concessions, such as the public plan, this time around, how are you going to do that in the future? The answer, I'm afraid, is: you won't. Onto receivership for the US! But more people will be healthy as the dollar collapses and the economy implodes.