Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Doctors Weigh In



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2 comments:

  1. DannyAugust 18, 2009 at 1:30 PM

    Earth to Doctor Snyderman, they will be Ice Skating in Hell before the people of this country let the Government Run Health Care. That's not to say there isn't room for cost reductions in the current system. Medicare is BANKRUPT...HELLO!!! THE COUNTRY CAN'T AFFORD MORE DEBT END OF STORY.

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  2. monoAugust 18, 2009 at 6:55 PM

    Danny's nickname is Doc, so I'm not surprised he weighed in, too.

    Dr. Nancy spoke of "trillion fatigue," and it makes sense. Both left and right can look at bank bailout, stimulus, auto bailout and the Fed's assumption of financial sector liabilities and be staggered... I know I am, too.

    Medicare "bankruptcy" is about projections of unfunded liabilities... And virtually every public or private entity has them. Looking at paying aging boomers' expenses (including Social Security) is demographically daunting... Especially to Republicans & Libertarians for whom lowering tax rates is religious dogma.

    England's National Health Service owns the hospitals, employs the doctors and pays the entire cost from tax revenue... Like the Veterans Administration.

    In Canada, the vendors are all private entities but the government acts as a taxpayer funded insurance provider. That's what's meant by a "single payer system"... Like Medicare, which has a 4% overhead compared to 30-35% for private insurers.

    Changing Social Security is known as "the third rail of American politics" for a reason... It's deadly. And to a lesser extent so are the VA & Medicare. Although both are "socialized" programs, neither politicians without an imminent death wish nor the programs' constituents would ever advocate scrapping them in the name of capitalism.

    As for "government run health care," it's not in the bill... Or any of the proposals that might make it as far as a House/Senate conference committee for a final up or down vote, because as yet there is no final bill.

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