Like what? Health care will suck up resources unless we cut its costs or cut back on care. Now, I assume what you're suggesting is displacing the costs from local to fed. That's suboptimization, not a solution.
Actually, it is, of course, a solution. Suboptimization is just a label.
One of these days I'll ratchet up a full conversation about single payer health care systems. Not today.
But there are two terribly serious negativities of the present system. One is the additional paper shuffling costs of the present system which are not a tweak. They are enormous. And almost all are associated with the terrible way we privatize health insurance.
The second is the addon costs to American products as compared to the products of other countries--cars, whatever. And the costs of local and state government which pays the costs of healthcare, are terribly pinched because of that. In my little borough, there are no end of items that desperately need to be done that can't be done because of the costs of healthcare and their ever, ever grab for more and larger portions of the budget.
No question this, partially, shifts those costs to other forms of taxation. But, bottom line, this present system is broken. Broken.
I say this, partially, because we are just about to put together next year's budget proposal for the local library. And I've just had my usual cold shower conversation with the borough administrator about the possibilities. He's a NJ Republican, basically, but we agree that if we don't move to a single payer system, the future of paying for local government in this state is in deep trouble.
And I don't mean to say it's only health care. The other is pensions, thanks to Christie Whitman. Yet another story. |
