This ugly fighting over health care is full of guerrilla warfare, ignoring the constitution AND the will of the people, and sleezy back room deals and bribes. So is it a battle over principle ... or just politics?
IMHO it is a matter of both principle and politics. It sounds real good to promise everyone access to health care, and someone else is going to pay for it. It accomodates the entitlement mentality of those who want something as long as everyone else pays for it.
I don't know anyone who has the attitude of "I've got mine so screw you" but it is a convenient slogan for those who like trite slogans such as "tax cuts for the rich" when tax rates were lowered for everyone and revenues increased, or "Bush lied and people died" to cover for those who were for the war until they were against it. The promise of health care for all sounds good, but a government wrought with corruption and inefficiency is hardly the source I would trust to oversee affordable health care.
Absolutely this is a battle of principal. This is the statists who want the federal government to control decisions of health care, including it's finance, versus free market capitalists who want those decisions left to the doctor and the patient, and if necessary a financial intermediary such as an insurance company.
This boils down to whether or not you respect the constitution. The US constitution does not empower the federal government to be the insurance agent for it's citizens. Similarly, it does not empower the federal government to compel private citizens to buy any specific product, such as insurance. Further, in nationalizing health care and in making it a de facto "right", we have created a "right" which is the work product of other citizens. That has the effect of enslaving them. To our shame, we tolerated slavery in this country for a short 80 years. Then we fought a bloody war to undo that tragedy. We amended the constitution twice to disallow similar attempts to enslave citizens. And now we are contemplating making the work of a specific subset of Americans the right of all Americans. It's unconscionable and immoral.
So yes, a thousand times yes. This is a battle for the character of America. Are we statists or are we individualists, proud of our freedom?
Louisiana Purchase. Cornhusker Kickback. Florida Deal. Reconciliation. Arm Twisting. Slaughter Rule. If the supporters of this legislation had a principled position, why would they need to bully, buy, and browbeat their own coalition while simultaneously mocking those who don't agree with them as "tea-baggers"? If they had a principled position, wouldn't they simply be able to use facts, reason, and logic to persuade the rest of us?
Oh wait .... they can't.
So THAT'S why we're in this mess.
Showing posts with label Health System Reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health System Reform. Show all posts
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Should It Be Health Care Reform …. Or Health System Reform
The issue of health care reform has little to do with the incendiary issues of partisan politics or rights of access, but instead should be squarely focused on creating an effective, properly managed program.
In other words applying some common damn business sense .... like small business folks do EVERY day!!!!
What do you think?
IMHO ….. placing the emphasis on access is a classic example of putting the cart before the horse.
The primary barrier to access is cost. Address the cost question and the access question becomes academic. If it is affordable, it becomes by definition accessible.
And, if it is affordable, it can be extended to those without the means to pay for it at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer.
The system is clearly broken. The current efforts at reform place far more emphasis on treating the symptoms rather than on the real problems - waste, inefficiency, corruption, ineptitude, and a firmly entrenched health care establishment that benefits from maintaining the status quo.
That would suggest the need for "an effective, well managed program".
The question becomes, who would create it and who would manage it?
From what we've seen so far, expecting Washington to do it would be somewhat unrealistic and expecting the health care industry as a whole to reform and restructure itself without outside intervention would seem to be equally unrealistic.
The engine that drives change in the health care system or any other system is ultimately the people who pay the bills - the employers who currently pay for the insurance along with the individuals who consume the services, pay all or part of their own health care costs, and/or pay the taxes that subsidize the delivery of the services to those who cannot afford them.
There is growing evidence that the engine is beginning to rev up. Interesting things are beginning to happen, not quickly enough to be satisfying enough to anyone but the snowball is definitely beginning to roll down the hill.
It would be reasonable to assume that the health care system will undergo a dramatic transformation during the next decade as those who pay the bills become more sophisticated, cost-conscious, demanding consumers who turn to suppliers who will supply the right products and services at the right prices - and that the changes that take place won't be the result of any government program or epiphany within the health care establishment.
Thus, the most effective "program" might be private initiatives that focus on consumer education and provided incentives that would encourage the development of innovative, cost-effective health care delivery systems.
The message to the health care establishment would be - wake up guys, you're pricing yourselves out of the market!!!!!!!!
Here's an out of the box V8 moment for you ..... we should focus on applying lean methodology to improve the quality of care while reducing waste and excessive costs. Too many preventable errors occur in most hospitals and the health care system in general. And I’ve heard doctors candidly admit that (depending on the doctor) anywhere from 30% to 50% of their activities have nothing to do with the delivery of care. Attacking the sources of such waste will improve health care delivery, lower costs, and thus make care more affordable.
A number of hospitals, academic medical centers, primary care clinics, dental practices, and other health care facilities are adopting the lean techniques developed in industry to improve the delivery of care while lowering costs. BTW, lean is more than a set of tools for improving quality. It’s a management system that works any place work is done, where managers and employees are trying to solve problem, places like health care.
There are examples here: Health Care Value Leaders
In other words applying some common damn business sense .... like small business folks do EVERY day!!!!
What do you think?
IMHO ….. placing the emphasis on access is a classic example of putting the cart before the horse.
The primary barrier to access is cost. Address the cost question and the access question becomes academic. If it is affordable, it becomes by definition accessible.
And, if it is affordable, it can be extended to those without the means to pay for it at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer.
The system is clearly broken. The current efforts at reform place far more emphasis on treating the symptoms rather than on the real problems - waste, inefficiency, corruption, ineptitude, and a firmly entrenched health care establishment that benefits from maintaining the status quo.
That would suggest the need for "an effective, well managed program".
The question becomes, who would create it and who would manage it?
From what we've seen so far, expecting Washington to do it would be somewhat unrealistic and expecting the health care industry as a whole to reform and restructure itself without outside intervention would seem to be equally unrealistic.
The engine that drives change in the health care system or any other system is ultimately the people who pay the bills - the employers who currently pay for the insurance along with the individuals who consume the services, pay all or part of their own health care costs, and/or pay the taxes that subsidize the delivery of the services to those who cannot afford them.
There is growing evidence that the engine is beginning to rev up. Interesting things are beginning to happen, not quickly enough to be satisfying enough to anyone but the snowball is definitely beginning to roll down the hill.
It would be reasonable to assume that the health care system will undergo a dramatic transformation during the next decade as those who pay the bills become more sophisticated, cost-conscious, demanding consumers who turn to suppliers who will supply the right products and services at the right prices - and that the changes that take place won't be the result of any government program or epiphany within the health care establishment.
Thus, the most effective "program" might be private initiatives that focus on consumer education and provided incentives that would encourage the development of innovative, cost-effective health care delivery systems.
The message to the health care establishment would be - wake up guys, you're pricing yourselves out of the market!!!!!!!!
Here's an out of the box V8 moment for you ..... we should focus on applying lean methodology to improve the quality of care while reducing waste and excessive costs. Too many preventable errors occur in most hospitals and the health care system in general. And I’ve heard doctors candidly admit that (depending on the doctor) anywhere from 30% to 50% of their activities have nothing to do with the delivery of care. Attacking the sources of such waste will improve health care delivery, lower costs, and thus make care more affordable.
A number of hospitals, academic medical centers, primary care clinics, dental practices, and other health care facilities are adopting the lean techniques developed in industry to improve the delivery of care while lowering costs. BTW, lean is more than a set of tools for improving quality. It’s a management system that works any place work is done, where managers and employees are trying to solve problem, places like health care.
There are examples here: Health Care Value Leaders
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