Paul Krugman: A Healthy New Year

[cal04]

The U.S. health care system is a scandal and a disgrace. But maybe, just maybe, 2007 will be the year we start the move toward universal coverage.

In 2005, almost 47 million Americans — including more than 8 million children — were uninsured, and many more had inadequate insurance.

Apologists for our system try to minimize the significance of these numbers. Many of the uninsured, asserted the 2004 Economic Report of the President, “remain uninsured as a matter of choice.”


(snip)
If it were up to me, we’d have a Medicare-like system for everyone, paid for by a dedicated tax that for most people would be less than they or their employers currently pay in insurance premiums. This would, at a stroke, cover the uninsured, greatly reduce administrative costs and make it much easier to work on preventive care.

http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/

[cassiepriam]

1. But will the managed care robber barons let reform happen?

They are stealing billions of health care dollars every year.

[pokercat999]

2. If it were up to me we would have a national medical

service much like the military. Free to all citizens with excursions (like military operations, often times called war) to other countries in need. It would be paid for from the treasury just like the military. There would be no need for "private" doctors except for vanity procedures like Michael Jackson's nose. Having a healthy, disease free population seems a basic step in having a secure nation......hmmmmm, sounds like a "national security" issue to me.

[applegrove]

3. USA is the only country in the West that doesn't have it. Everyone else

loves their universal health care. And it bonds a country together. Another reason why the * WH hates the idea.