Welcome to Health Care POV | sign in | join
ADVANCE Blog for PAs

The Dysfunctional and Stable U.S. Health Care System

Published January 28, 2008 6:33 PM by Stephen Cornell

Is major health care reform inevitable? Don't bet on it.

The New England Journal of Medicine looks at "The Amazing Noncollapsing U.S. Health Care System" and pronouces it "disturbingly stable."

For roughly 40 years, health care professionals, policymakers, politicians, and the public have concurred that the system is careening toward collapse because it is indefensible and unsustainable, a study in crisis and chaos. This forecast appeared soon after Medicare and Medicaid were enacted and has never retreated. Such disquieting continuity amid change raises an intriguing question: If the consensus is so incontestable, why has the system not already collapsed? Perhaps pondering this question can yield insights into the system as the 2008 elections approach.

Link

1 comments

Its strange that it took the leftist New England Journal to call the liberal bluff on the “health care collapse.”

The undeniable truth is that the US has by far the best health care in the world for those willing to work for it.

The giant donkey in the room is that most people without health insurance in this country are perfectly able to pay for it, but prefer to buy 60-inch flat-screen TVs for their McMansions and Blue Ray DVD players for their giant SUVs. They max out $50,000 credit cards for luxury goods but scream bloody murder when asked to pay their own health bills. Priorities, priorities.

It’s unfortunate that there will almost certainly be a Democratic landslide in November election. But there will be a giant upside for America if the Democrats try to “reform” a system that a solid majority of responsible hard working Americans are understandably pleased with.

Kevin, PA-C, MPH January 28, 2008 8:25 PM
Virginia

leave a comment



To prevent comment spam, please type the code you see below into the code field before submitting your comment. If you cannot read the numbers in the image, reload the page to generate a new one.

Captcha
Enter the security code below: