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Friday, January 02, 2009

What type Universal Health Care for U.S. is on the way?

DrRich applies his usual insight, keen analytic skills and puckish literary charm to the issue of Universal Health Care (UHC) in this post and believes that it will happen and the only questions involve the details. The major issue is will people be "allowed to pay" for services not covered by the government plan. Will it be like Canada or like Great Britain? DrRich is pessimistic and believes we will go the way of the Canadians

That question should not have to be asked in a country based on individual freedom but as DrRich points our, things could well go the way of Canada,even as there are indications that the Canadians are trying to retrench in that regard. See here for some developments regarding our northern neighbors.

Those who favor a no-opt-out system seem to put much importance to there being no "two-tiered system". The proximity of the U.S. health care facilities has made a quasi two tiered system in Canada a reality much to the vexation of those who find solace in the equality of deprivation.

Physicians may well differ in regard to UHC, some being so fed up with the current wage controls imposed by Medicare and insurance company hegemony that they now favor it (like Medicare for all will be better) but there should be nothing but opposition to a Canada like prohibition of private off-the-grid care.

The current renewal of free-market bashing may well bring along with it a renewed belief in the government as solution to whatever problem(s) flash on the volatile public consciousness.

What is there to suggest the U.S. will follow Canada?

1.There are rumblings, e.g. in the state of Maryland, that concierge medicine might be made illegal.
2.The libertarian prop 101 was defeated in Arizona.(You might want to follow the money there to see who funded the opposition.So why was a Realtors association a big donor to the fight against prop 101? see here for a reference.)
3.Hilliary care contained a provision to penalize docs who dared to treat patients off the grid.

But on the other hand.

1.Obama care , at least as promoted during the election, does not explicitly mention outlawing off the grid care.
2.Obama care seems to propose a subsidy for private insurance as well as an option to sign up for some Medicare-like public plan. And Medicare itself does not exactly preclude patients making private arrangements with physicians.
3.The British NHS coexists with a private insurance medical care system. Further we may look to France.Their health care system is a mixture of private and public elements and citizens can elect to buy a little more care and there seems to be a bit of choice.This might be a more viable role model now that we seem to be emulating the French approach to buying into industries and businesses that have problems, remember Renault.

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