Health Reform Plan--More Nonsense

Amid anguished cries of 'fascism' and 'socialism,' critics of the Government's health care reform bills proclaim that THEY DO NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT RUNNING HEALTH CARE.

At the same time, people say, 'Health care costs too much,' 'Millions cannot afford health care,' 'Millions cannot afford health insurance,' 'THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.'

Come on, guys, you can't have it both ways. We all can see that health care costs too much, and the costs continue to increase. The players in our health care system can not, will not take actions to cut the costs. If we want the government to fix the problem, the government will either have to regulate the system, or take it over.

But is the government capable of doing either of those things? As I mentioned in my last post, I doubt it. Congress is refusing to identify 'cost drivers' in the system and eliminate or regulate them. Instead of trying to simplify the process and regulate the specific activities that are out of control, Congress is proposing to add complexity to the system, get more people involved, and introduce more reporting and paperwork. It's another example of their "comprehensive" plans.

The Commentary section of Sunday's Orange County Register contained two diagrams of the proposed reform plan. One drawn by Republicans on the front page, large and in color, was on the front page. The second, drawn by Democrats, nearly microscopic and monochrome, was on page 5. For me the issue is not the relative emphasis of one over the other because both are ridiculoulsy complex. One had over 50 'bubbles' on it; the other had over 60 blocks. Commisions, boards, reports, hundreds of people doing everything except curing illnesses. The costs will show up on our health care bills and our tax bills as increases, not reductions.

A direct, top down analysis would start with a simple diagram that has only a few boxes:

1. consumers
2. health care providers (doctors, laboratories, hospitals)
3. pharmaceutical manufacturers
4. health insurance companies and management organizations
5. Law firms (handling the suits pressed by consumers against providers)
6. federal government (assuming we want them involved)

Then you draw some lines between them that represent the flow of money, products, and services. To do it right, the preparer has to virtually 'sit' in each block and determine where revenue comes from, where the income is spent, and what the net gain is. The resulting diagram will generate a lot of questions to be answered, and identify real problems to be resolved in order to make sure that the largest portion of the dollar spent by the consumer is used directly to cure his health problem.

I read an article the other day claiming that a congressman stated he does not want to look at ways to cut costs. If that is so, I know why I cannot support the administration's health care reform plan