Congressman Ron Paul speaks on healthcare
Congressman Ron Paul, R-TX, posted a video at YouTube discussing his thoughts on health care issues. In the video, Cong. Paul provides his insights into the causes of the current, systemic problems preventing the efficient delivery of health care at reasonable costs. Prior to entering politics, Cong. Paul was a licensed Medicare doctor with an obstetrics practice. Given his national profile, and experience dealing with health care issues as a practicing doctor, his opinions should carry great weight with anyone serious about health care reform in the United States.
Personally, I find myself in agreement with much of what the congressman has to say on this issue. The current level of discontent and the high costs relative to health care, and health insurance, in many ways stems from the quasi private hybrid system currently in place. As I addressed here, states place mandates on private insurance companies making it impossible for consumers to purchase low cost, a la cart or catastrophic plans; while tax breaks for employers providing health insurance, without a similar tax break for individuals purchasing insurance on their own, ties workers to their employer if they are concerned about maintaining health coverage.
In many ways we have distorted the very concept of health “insurance”. Rather then a system of pooled risk as a hedge against catastrophic events; an expectation has developed that all health related expenditures, even routine office visits, should be covered. Finally, as this Wall Street Journal editorial points out, the lack of will on the part of politicians to confront the tort lobby contributes to increasing costs for malpractice insurance to defend against frivolous lawsuits. These and other market distortions have severely impacted the market for health care in the United States, any serious attempt to address this issue, must start with addressing these concerns. Cong. (and Doctor) Paul’s video is a great starting point for this discussion.
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I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment Mike