The Obamacare system is struggling, tho it isn't really the cause of the problems it faces. The underlying cause is high healthcare costs and the income gap in USA. The Obama solutions were, for the most part, designed by politicians, (I think) rather than economists. Politicians tend to try and make something look good on the surface with statements like "no new taxes." This often means taxes are hidden in the system, such as a tax on medical equipment, which eventually gets passed along in the form of the higher premiums to the higher income folks in the system. Lower income folks continue to be somewhat cushioned by the subsidies in the Obama system.
At the start, I think more could have been done to promote healthier lifestyles among the population, in general, and also to reduce overuse of healthcare. In some cases, people are over medicated. A clearer leveling with the American people could have taken place in the beginning. Yes, due to the income gap, some kind of income transfer is needed to provide universal access to healthcare. Call it taxes, or whatever, there isn't really a way around that.
The taxes wouldn't have to be that bad however. If healthcare reform works there are a lot of savings that can happen. For instance the savings caused by low income people having access to prevention instead of waiting to end up in the emergency room where the treatment is most expensive and those costs get shifted to others. That is what was happening before.
No comments:
Post a Comment