Another Perspective
Time to Buy Time
Only one thing can reform and save the health care debate.
President Obama is meeting stiff resistance from even his own party — and from the American people. This is evidenced by the President’s willingness to retreat on the government run option, begging the question, what else is wrong with the Administration’s proposal?
In the formulation of national health care policy, time is both a constraint and a resource. Time is a constraint for a President who knows that his popularity is likely highest in the first three to six months of his Administration. It is a constraint for a President who wishes to strike while his iron is hot, and to follow the advice of his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel: “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
The health care industry, unlike financial services, has not imperiled the global financial system, necessitating rapid emergency regulatory intervention to prevent catastrophe. Few will deny that the cost of health care and its accessibility should be part of a national debate — but the President is trying in just a few months to railroad a solution, lest his ratings continue to decline.
Time, however, is a resource for those who must perform extensive due diligence on health care, which represents a monumental 17% of U.S. GDP. This economic activity is equivalent to $2.4 trillion, which is slightly more than the entire GDP of Great Britain, the 7th largest economy in the world (purchasing power parity 2008 estimate). Why the White House wanted decisions of colossal importance to be made by the end of August would seem a decent question, especially when they address economic, medical and ethical issues that have been decades in the making.
The value of an extensive national debate is to inform the public about a complex subject that affects us all. It permits focus on issues on which the Administration has been largely silent. First, capping malpractice liability, also known as tort reform, is not addressed. While malpractice insurance raises the cost of health care to the patient, a knock-on effect is the overprescribing of some tests and procedures, due to an abundance of caution in a litigious culture. The Economist refers to evidence that Americans could reduce between 10% and 30% of health costs by eliminating unnecessary medical procedures and prescriptions.
Second, the sponsors of the bills do not address incentives for adopting good life style choices and a national education program to support this. If we are to radically overhaul health care, shouldn’t there be incentives for making positive decisions about personal behavior, and as some must be asking, in order to improve outcomes, shouldn’t there be higher premiums for behavior that is reckless or unwise?
Third, and as reported in the Wall Street Journal, the Pew Hispanic Center reports that about 50% of the 12 million illegal aliens in the U.S. do not have health insurance, and they are lawfully entitled to free emergency treatment which cannot be denied. In view of the cited McKinsey & Co. estimate that the same care at a primary facility would be 10% to 15% of the cost of delivery in an emergency room, the effects of illegal immigration on the national health care debate must be brought to light based on present and future demographics.
Finally, the debate should take time to include discussion of other national role models and what their effectiveness is. Level of co-payment, rationing and waiting lists, restriction of physicians, technology, and consistency of quality must be taken into account with any so-called universal coverage program — along with the level of deficit required to sustain it. To achieve a collective understanding beyond sound bites about countries such as France or Canada requires analysis, thought, and dialogue on the airwaves and in print.
For a White House that prides itself in text messaging and Tweeting, it could be more adroit at communicating its message succinctly. The ridiculous image of “death panels” for seniors put forth by Sarah Palin, while a grotesque misrepresentation of the Administration’s approach, has been a more effective, albeit negative, brand moniker than all the President’s mellifluous and numerous words. Through ineffective communication, the President has allowed his political adversaries to define him.
Until we know at the individual level what health care reform will cost and what the benefit will be, we will not have a well-informed electorate, and there will be vulnerability to fear-mongering and misunderstandings.
In view of the complexity of the issue, the economic scale, and the amount of misinformation in the mainstream, the country needs a scarce resource in order to evaluate and assimilate: Time.
About the Author
Frank Schell is a business consultant and former international banking executive. He serves on the Dean’s International Council of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, where he is a lecturer, and on the editorial board of the Chicago-based National Strategy Forum, which focuses on national security issues.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (48) | Leave a comment
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Michael L. Hauschild| 9.2.09 @ 9:10AM
If you want the best health care in the world, then you must pay the most. Fall on your knees and thank the pharmaceutical industry, the AMA, your insurance companies, and the democratic political system of the USA for standing by waiting for you to become ill.
Now for all those who pay no taxes, are here illegally, live on the dole, and want the eighty some percent of us that are satisfied with (and pay for) our own health care to nurture them while they merrily smoke, drink, and populate the world with the future STD bearing matrimonially challenged voting pool, I have some distressing news.
It is not that we don’t care, we do. All that welfare and free travel to the ballot box originates with compassion for our fellow man, it is just that we are out of money, out of credit, and out of patience.
Call it what it is, this “Health Care Reform” as posed by the left is just another welfare crutch that keeps many viable citizens from the pride of providing for themselves. Human nature for some is the path of least resistance, to them this, “A cry for help will always be answered, the shout for more free stuff is going to fall on deaf ears.
Dave Lincoln| 9.2.09 @ 9:50AM
"If we are to radically overhaul health care, shouldn't there be incentives for making positive decisions about personal behavior, and as some must be asking, in order to improve outcomes, shouldn't there be higher premiums for behavior that is reckless or unwise?"
NO!
There shouldn't, Frank, and that is the problem with socialism. If every taxpayer pays for everyone else, then people will want to vote in laws to control behavior regarding things that are our own choices in a free country. If there are no such laws, then these decisions will be decided by bureaucrats that can't be fired.
Secondly, there are not 12 million illegal aliens in the country. It is up around 20 - 25 million. Why do you say 50 % have health insurance? How was that determined? I would say it is a lot higher.
I don't know why I have to spend my valuable time correcting half the articles y'all write on this site. Get it right the first time, people (yeah, you, Frank Schell).
Dave Lincoln| 9.2.09 @ 9:51AM
oops, sorry for that major typo in my post above.
WAS: "NO!"
S/B: "HELL, NO!"
(It won't happen again.)
Shamus| 9.2.09 @ 10:03AM
Administrative costs are very high. If billing could be done under a uniform system there would be a huge gain in productivity.
Mean Sign Holder| 9.2.09 @ 10:16AM
Wake up, people! Heath care reform and cap and trade are nothing but thinly-disguised attempts to nationalize the health care and energy industries. It's a brilliant plot, everyone needs energy and at some point everyone needs health care. I realize I'm preaching to the choir here but I just wish more people my age (38) would see these initiatives for what they are. What's next? ObamaBurger? I'll take free enterprise over government anytime. Or, as Obama aptly put it, "Fedex and UPS are doing just fine; its the post office that's always having problems."
JerseyJ| 9.2.09 @ 10:30AM
You actually had me going until you penned this ..."The ridiculous image of "death panels" for seniors put forth by Sarah Palin, while a grotesque misrepresentation of the Administration's approach"
and this ... "Through ineffective communication, the President has allowed his political adversaries to define him. "
So let me get this straight ... you actually believe the biggest problem with ObamaRx is ineffective communication? One man's ineffective communication is another man's lies I guess. He is purposely undercommunicating. The more vague the promise the better. People clearly read whatever meaning best suits them into terms like "hope" and "change", so why not keep things purposely ambiguous to let more useful idiots apply their own version of what it means to them.
As for the "death panel" term, anyone with a third grade education can spot the figurative nature of the term. You do understand that Palin didn't mean that we'd literally be standing in front of a group with our particular case in hand awaiting a thumbs up or down, but rather there will be a government entity espousing the benefits and enforcing "comparative effectiveness" to 300M people, right? The end result would be the same sir. It is not a "grotesque misrepresentation" at all, but rather a simplified summary in the vein of social networking. You should consider joining the 20th century now that it's been over for close to a decade.
The "death panel" was already created in the porkulus bill ... In the world of a socialist Amerika, the "Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research" will fit the "death panel" description rather neatly.
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.2.09 @ 11:01AM
I would not trust ANY bill passed by this corrupt administration and congress, not even for toilet tissue.
All you folks in our tea parties and town halls: THANK YOU!
we have now gotten built a clubhouse/locker room big enough for all of you. We have some unique plans to help you deal with these radicals with overwhelming strength. TOGETHER .EVERYONE. ACHEIVES. MORE.
T.E.A.M. AMERICA IS NOW ON THE FIELD, AND THE OUTCOME IS NO LONGER IN DOUBT! http://judgeroy.wordpress.com
Dave Lincoln| 9.2.09 @ 11:06AM
Great comments MSM and JerseyJ. I think the author got two points right. First, the Democrats in power want to push this thing quickly, and no matter how much you agree with them, there is no hurry. The 2nd point is that tort reform would save a lot of costs in health care, just from my experience and from finding out the insurance costs of doctors who are FOM (Friends Of Mine, haha).
However, why do the guys on our side always augment their basic points with total crap? We need better writers, at least on this site (say, for 50% of the articles). I mean, I know your Pat Buchanans and your Michelle Malkins and your Ann Coulters write articles that are already widely disseminated. It still seems that you could find some people that write with the same rigor and with their principles in mind. Some of you write like this is a debate club and you don't really care what's right. You just want to make the points with the appropriate style. Fuck that!
Trotters = defeeted pigs| 9.2.09 @ 1:46PM
Death Panels brought to you by the Culture of Death.
Sounds about right to me.
This author of this article is a frank shill.
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.2.09 @ 4:09PM
Dave Lincoln
We need your "leaning forward" thought at TEAM AMERICA!
Please join us.
or just grumble in your corner. http://judgeroy.wordpress.com
Pingback| 9.2.09 @ 5:12PM
VNOHosting Auction & Store » The American Spectator : Time to Buy Time links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
CA Conservative| 9.2.09 @ 6:11PM
The only kind of thing that can be universalized is catastrophic health care insurance. Beyond that, there is a moral hazard which permits one person to engage in unhealthy lifestyles at the expense of another.
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.2.09 @ 6:23PM
Hey...California surfer dude! (conservative)
Please...read your comment in the morning when your bong is cold.
That was perhaps...just perhaps... one of the dumbest comments in spectator history!
Hey dummy...I smoke a pipe and you engage in fornication...which of us is more "safe" and we shall grow old...or die soonest from stds...or nicotine?
Lord, amspec, isn't there any boundary? At all?
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.2.09 @ 7:42PM
Ladies and gentlemen
Our country is going in the toilet, and you guys keep grumbling in your corner...firing off comments...worthless.
Fun.............but worthless!
Hey, I have fun here too, laughing at moveon and assorted idiots who don't even get paid. (oops, like me, heh).
Do you guys truly want to sit and grumble when a CIVIL WAR is building in our country?
Are you going to wait until the brownshirts kick down your door in the middle of the night?
Do you look forward to seeing your doctor after dark, and pay out of pocket on the "blackmarket" to get simple medical care or a prescription?
People..................would some of you please get serious?
Expend one damned click and see if I am right!
http://judgeroy.wordpress.com
On the other hand, just sit on your hands and watch us take your country back for you.
Yosemeti Sam| 9.2.09 @ 11:47PM
" ... Through ineffective communication,
the President has allowed his political adversaries
to define him...."
Hah!
How's that again? Ineffective communication?
Reality: this puppet on strings
could not flush his 'message'
upon us plain folk because the
elitist - so they believe - swamp things
in LMSM couldn't cover fast enough for
him to overcome the leprous facts
continually exposed
in the HR's War and Peace length scheme
'legislation'; BTW, authored by exactly whom?
LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS| 9.3.09 @ 1:18PM
~ WHEN THE LAUGH OF $ATAN WA$ HEARD IN THE PEOPLE$ HALLS OF U$ CONGRE$$ ~
THIS OLD WORLD ORDER OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF OUR POORER AMERICANS NEEDS ENLIGHTENED POLITICAL MINDS AND HEARTS TO VIEW GOD DIFFERENTLY THEN $$$…. NO MATTER WHAT THEIR POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION ???
WHEN WILL OUR WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS ABATE THEIR ASSAULT ON POORER AMERICANS WITH THEIR MONETARY CONTROL OF OUR IVORY TOWER U.S. CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER ???
THERE ARE NOT MANY MORE DISTRACTIONS LEFT WHICH ARE AVAILABLE FOR OUR WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS TO HIDE BEHIND IN NOT TAKING PROPER CARE OF ALL OUR AMERICANS IN A HUMANE FASHION !!!
RALPH NADER ATTEMPTED TO EDUCATE AMERICAN VOTERS ABOUT U.S. CORPORATE POWER IN AMERICA AND HOW THEY CONTROL OUR CONGRESSIONAL PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR POCKET BOOK (POLITICAL DONATIONS). * WITHOUT THE DOUGH $$$ THESE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD DO NOT GET RE~ELECTED TO CONGRESS.*TO STAY IN POLITICAL OFFICE IN AMERICA,ONE HAS TO BARTER YOUR VOTES IN CONGRESS AND REPRESENT POWER INTERESTS IN RETURN FOR THE BUCK$.
POORER AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HAD THE $$$ LOBBY TO INFLUENCE THIS CORRUPT POLITICAL CONCEPT (of horse trading political votes for political contributions) TO ACHIEVE PROPER HEALTH ~CARE OR LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR ALL OUR MIDDLE ~ CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS.
AMERICAN IVORY TOWER U.S.CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD HAVE PASSED FEDERAL LEGISLATION IN WASHINGTON DC TO SPEND 50 BILLION AMERICAN TAX $$$ ON THE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT AGAINST AIDS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WHILE THEIR OWN AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING TOLD BY THIS SAME U.S.CONGRESS THAT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE AND PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR CITIZENS IS UNAFFORDABLE.
*** WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS (WHO ARE ONLY 1% OF OUR USA POPULATION) SADLY ALSO CONTROL HOW OUR U.S.CONGRESS SPENDS THEIR BUDGET TRILLION$ AND HAVE OBVIOUSLY FOUND MORE WORTHY INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS THEN OUR OWN DESPERATE AND NEEDY POOR TO ASSIST !!!
~Poorer Americans Nationwide only get 400 million $$$ per year for legal representation allocated them by CONGRESS~
Middle Class and Working Poor Americans are unable to afford proper legal representation in their Civil, Criminal and Family Courts of law all across America causing tremendous hardships nationwide,but these great minds and callous hearts in our American Congress have found others Worldwide more needy then their own citizens who are being falsely incarcerated,wrongfuly executed,losing their homes or apartments,losing child custody or visitation with their children etc�
Not being afforded proper legal representation by our U.S. Congress has created a total breakdown of the American judicial system for our poorer Americans because the our U.S. Courts punish all of us little people if we are not assisted with proprer legal counsel.*It is a known fact that our average Middle Class and Working Poor Americans without proper legal representation in all of our American Courts of law lose their legal cases to the better financed who are able to afford lawyers.
Lawyers For Poor Americans is now actively in the hunt for International Countries and Leaders Worldwide to help raise 5 Billion Dollar$ for our slighted poorer Americans who have had their own American Congress turn their backs on their desperate needs in not affording them proper legal representation.
Troy Davis and Mumia Abu ~ Jamal are 2 perfect examples of American citizens who never had proper legal representation or defense investigations afforded them by our U.S. Congressional Leaders Of The Free World in their initial criminal trials in (Georgia and Pennsylvania) who might very well have to pay the ultimate price of possibly being completely innocent and falsely executed in the near future.
These two poorer Americans are among tens of thousands of legal cases nationwide that never were afforded proper legal representation or proper defense investigations at their initial trials……**We the public really have no idea if these men are innocent or guilty until they both are given fair legal representation at their new future trials.
Improper murder trials take place in Third World Countries all the time. *** Why should average Middle~Class and Working Poor Americans in the Wealthiest Country Of The World be treated as if they are living a Third World Life Style ??
This is the first of many www International pleas by Lawyers For Poor Americans for other leaders and countries to help raise the needed monie$ to correct these blatant injustices that have been inflicted on poorer Americans for the last few decades.
Lawyers For Poor Americans has many other written articles that can be viewed with any www search engine by our name or our telephone number.
Lawyers For Poor Americans is a www lobby group of volunteers that sing out about the decades old neglect,abuse and injustices being inflicted on our poorer Americans that have become Crimes Against Humanity issues for the International World Court to investigate.
lawyersforpooreramericans@yahoo.com
(424-247-2013)
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