Our healthcare system is broken. But take heart, so are the ones in most other countries, even though most are government run systems. Still, bunches of people have it in their heads that we need the government to solve our healthcare issues. Government run systems either have failed or are failing pretty much everywhere.
And by failing I don’t mean they’re collapsing or going out of business, they’re government run – they can be mismanaged forever. I mean they are expensive, inefficient, and fail to meet patient needs. How can I say that? Read the facts reported by news outlets.
There are other ways to tell which systems work better. For instance Three of the five top rated hospitals in the world are US hospitals (including the number one and two rated); four of the top ten are US based.
And these hospitals (and many other high-end hospital systems in the US) have four or five star hotels near or attached to them. Most of these hotels are there to not only serve the public (though not all, some only serve the hospital they’re attached to), they also serve the wealthy people coming from other countries, most which have government run healthcare. These rich folks prefer to pay our “high costs” to get better, more timely care.
We need government to leave the healthcare industry to the free market. We also need to have employers leave healthcare. These two entities are the biggest problems with healthcare. Remove them from the equation and healthcare fixes itself.
How can I be so certain? History is partly my guide. Having multiple private enterprises, in any line of business, compete for customers has brought great customer service, huge strides in innovation, lower costs – and with better commercials.
The most recent example of government interfering with and inhibiting an industry is the telephone monopolies, broken up in the 80’s. Without going into gory detail, getting the government out of it is why we have cell phones and the internet. These may not have happened with the old government-regulated monopolies. Deregulation allowed for innovation with better service that is significantly cheaper than it is with regulated monopolies. In other words: getting government out and allowing competition in brought significant benefits to consumers. Just one example: in the 1970’s it cost the equivalent of about $4 a MINUTE to call from one coast to the other; now these calls are free no matter how long you talk.
Just look at Medicare/Medicaid. Everyone agrees these programs are broken. Rampant fraud, inefficient management, and putting a severe strain on health providers by constantly squeezing them by cutting allowed payouts. And Democrats want Medicare-For-All? That’s like giving your alcoholic uncle keys to the bar.
Getting employers out would also greatly aid consumers. Employers look at paying for health insurance as an expense to be managed, not by how it benefits employees. Employers aren’t really interested in giving each employee the best plan; they’re only interested in the most cost-efficient plans.
Of course, that’s all on the insurance side of the equation. Healthcare providers have also contributed to this mess. Outrageous costs for normal items, incomprehensible bills, no transparency, and little oversight has all contributed to make healthcare costs spiral out-of-control.
All this stems from fractious, contradictory, and sometimes worthless laws and regulations passed by politicians who fail to see that THEY are the cancer in the health system that needs to be exorcised. The laws are then handed to regulatory agencies that are only interested in enforcing the rules as they interpret them; the effect on patients, insurers, and providers are not part of their thought processes.
If we allow individuals to choose health insurance from private insurers and move the government to an oversight role everyone would benefit.
See the Part 2 addressing Medicare-For-All:
https://governusright.com/healthcare-part-2-medicare-for-all/