Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Bloated Role of Government in Healthcare

According to truecostblog.com, 53% of healthcare costs in America are paid for by the government (i.e., the taxpayers); Medicare, Medicaid, the V.A., benefits to municipal workers, etc.., and if you also include tax deductions, that percentage swells all the way up to 62%. Yeah, I would say that the government is the number one middle man here by a long shot.......And just this whole notion that adding multiple layers to a financial transaction being a good thing - it's bizarre, totally bizarre.

7 comments:

dmarks said...

Reducing this percentage significantly would be true progress; a laudable goal.

Les Carpenter said...

If only medical cost(MRI, nuclear stress test, chemo, dialysis, etc), fraud (I know a couple doctors, it's widespread, and law suits (gotta love the ambulance chasers and malpractice atty's) could be controlled effectively. Then perhaps medical insurance would be more affordable and more people could afford it. Or, there are ample models functioning successfully in other industrialized western democracies that are working.

Perhaps it is time this country takes a serious look at it's priorities.

Jerry Critter said...

That sounds like an endorsement of a single payer system. You know, only one layer, not multiple layers.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I would greatly reduce that layer, too, Jerry. I would mandate health savings accounts and high deductible catastrophic plans and, yes, for poor people I would provide a subsidy through the government. Patient to provider directly would be the ultimate goal.

dmarks said...

I'm willing to look at solutions that actually improve healthcare, and don't take dangerous steps such as growing the government, stripping away patient choice, etc.

I'm also willing to consider mandates as long as "we the people" get something back, in the form of improved healthcare and the significant downsizing of government healthcare involvement

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I'm not that big of a mandate guy but in this situation I really think that we need to get everybody contributing or else it isn't going to work. And, no, no waivers, none at all (that part of the Obama plan I will NOT emulate).

dmarks said...

Will said: "yes, for poor people I would provide a subsidy through the government".

So would I. However, it is a complete waste to give free healthcare to those who can afford it. On this issue, the Left supports welfare for the rich, while conservatives oppose it.