Meaningful health-care reform: DOA?
Is serious reform of our health-care system dead before it's even introduced in Congress next year? Yeah, probably, writes Brian Klepper at The Health Care Blog.
Why? Well, as the songwriter Randy Newman once pointed out, it's money that matters. Industry lobbyists have spent tens of millions of dollars in contributions to congresscritters. It's a lot of money to you and me, but negligible to the industry when hundreds of millions, or even billions, in revenue may be on the line for them.
That system's ramifications affect not just the health-care system but also people's health, as Klepper notes in his analysis of the U.S. obesity epidemic (31% of Americans are obese, compared with distant runners-up Mexico (24%) and Britain (23%). There are a lot of reasons for that, but money is the predominant one, Klepper writes. And here's the most depressing part:
... since weight is important to fitness, fitness is important to overall health, health is an important component of productivity, and productivity drives competitiveness, the US' future prospects are already lousy and headed south. In terms of our health AND our competitiveness, we're committing slow suicide.
Anyone looking for cheaper or better health care will find the post depressing. Klepper offers a couple of solutions but says they're both improbable.
Is he missing something? Is the situation as dire as he says? Are solutions as few in number and as unlikely to be achieved as he says?
