Yes, the choice IS government or more government, I'm afraid. That is, unless you are willing to watch people die in the street without help - because they failed to purchase insurance.
I'm thinking - the answer is in having a simple, cheap safety net paid for by the public -- meaning things like limits on use of expensive meds, limited access to doctors, with most care provided by residents and other trainees, wards rather than semiprivate or private hospital rooms, and so forth. Long waits, too. In other words, this adds up to creating a somewhat lower standard of care - as opposed to the current situation, when everyone is expected to be treated the same.
This would be a fairly profound change... but the current system is unsustainable. It would have to be unattractive, as welfare should be.... it should make people want to earn more money and to be able to purchase insurance.
And-- when it comes to private insurance, cut all regulation and government participation down to (almost) zero. Make it all private, and let 'em compete. The result would probably be good. A medico-legal reform would be needed no matter what the future holds - practicing defensive medicine probably costs far more than we realize. |
