tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post7336554993527388131..comments2024-03-02T02:26:00.928-05:00Comments on bleakonomy: Money makes the world go aroundtetracontadigonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04604381739383227553noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-48675914654851147052009-01-28T08:51:00.000-05:002009-01-28T08:51:00.000-05:00Healthcare is a different animal than most consume...Healthcare is a different animal than most consumer needs. If I need care, I don't really compare costs; instead, I compare outcomes, and largely ignore the cost. I want the best care, not the most cost-effective care. You correctly point out that money makes the world go round, so how can nationalized insurance help control costs? I think there are several ways.<BR/><BR/>One, we can set a 100% estate tax rate until total (Medicare today, FedCare tomorrow) lifetime costs are recouped. No one is denied care based on ability to pay (the insurance aspect) but those who can pay, do pay in the end.<BR/><BR/>Two, we can nationalize medical schools. The current system does a terrible job producing enough doctors to meet demand, and a terrible job getting enough primary care docs out there. The normal incentive would be to raise reimbursement until sufficient numbers chose primary care. But if we are going to control costs, we can't do that (at least not without cutting rates for specialized care docs). Let's put the genius of government to work on overhauling medical education. We can use carrots to steer students into needed areas like primary care; no med school tuition if you work in a designated specialty.<BR/><BR/>Three, we can use nurse practitioners for more routine preventative and screening duties.<BR/><BR/>Forth, why not have the States set up their own plans rather than have only one national plan? We would find out what worked and what didn't faster by having 50 lab experiments running compared to a single experiment.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure there are better ideas out there, but obviously any governmental healthcare policy ought to work on supply and how medicine is delivered, not just making things so inconvenient that people consume less healthcare (which seems to be the private insurance motto).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com