What do we really know about Health Care Reform

There is a swirl of "information" flying around about potential reform of the United States' health care system. Sorting through the propaganda, talking points, and spin, there are some things about the current system and the proposed reforms that are irrefutable.

First: The current system is broken for many reasons. One of those reasons is not problem with delivery of quality care. Instead, the reason the current system is broken is due to the rising cost of care and obligations the government has to recipients of government run medicaid and medicare.

Second: Any system in which the connection between the cost of service and the delivery of service is severed is doomed to failure. This is why the current system of government and private insurance is so broken. There is no recognition of usage cost. If a doctor's office visit only costs a $ 10 co-pay or is free, then what the heck, stop in just to see what the Doc has to say. Any product in any system that is priced well below fair market value will be over used. Any system in which there is no incentive to optimize and control costs will see run away costs - like the current system. Therefore any "reform" that makes health care appear "free" will crash and burn.

Third: There is no way to force health care coverage for 47M uninsured Americans without dramatic tax increases to pay for those newly covered with health care. Any suggestion otherwise is pure folly at best and outright deception at worst.

Fourth: Absent political agendas, the fix for health care coverage is not particularly daunting nor difficult.

Fifth: A "public option" for health care where the government both runs the option and sets the rules for the market in which that "option" operates will drive private players out of the market.

None of these concepts are difficult to grasp. All of these are difficult if not impossible to refute. It would be refreshing to see someone on Capitol Hill embrace the reality of our health care situation and propose a responsible reform plan that solves the problem rather than scratching political backs or serving failed political dogma.

BTW - I just read where car dealers are hung out to dry waiting for their money from Uncle Sam's cash-for-clunkers program. These dealers are essentially floating the Feds an interest free loan and have no clue when payments will be dispersed nor when the paperwork nightmare will end. The government cannot run a tiny, insignificant program like cash for clunkers, but there are those who would trust Washington to run health care....you have got to be kidding me. A tried and true phrase describes many on Capitol Hill..."those who could not find their asses with both hands and a map"....and these are the people we want running health care? I want them to go home and stay there, so they don't screw up the tiny flickers of economic recovery that may be taking hold.