Re: "Buddy, do you HONESTLY believe ANY PARTY can reduce the cost of healthcare?"
Of COURSE I do!
A variety of broad-ranging, COMMON SENSE (but perhaps not politically easy) changes would be required though.
Nothing can go up *forever* at the rate of increase we have seen in health care costs over the last decade or so, without IMPLODING on itself.
Since I don't wish the collapse of health care... I suggest we join hands and get about the business of serious reforms. There are LOTS of sacred cows that must be tackled for any effective reform effort (because the contributing factors for the over all problem are so many).
We need serious reforms to the US patent system, the Medical profession, reforms of Pharmaceutical industry practices, Insurance reforms, Legal reforms, Governmental reforms, and the promotion of technology initiatives to reduce error rates (in prescribing medicines, record keeping, privacy, etc.)
Re: "We have the highest cost cause we have the greatest care."
Not supported by the facts.
I believe the most useful metric for measuring 'how good a place's medical system is' would be to look at the death rates, and disease rates, among the population.
By that simple measure, the US is good... but no where near the top of the heap.
And, when you adjust the health outcomes measure from above for the COST of medicine --- then our overly expensive, bloated medical system moves WAY down the list. |
