Comments on: Response to TNR's Jonathan Cohn http://pnhp.org/blog/2008/07/16/response-to-tnrs-jonathan-cohn/ PNHP's official blog Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:04:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Greg http://pnhp.org/blog/2008/07/16/response-to-tnrs-jonathan-cohn/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Greg Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:18:14 +0000 http://www.pnhp.org/blog/?p=27#comment-58 Just one question for Arron Kinney: If our system is so great, why is it that every industrialized country except for the U.S. has opted for either a single payer system or a very heavily regulated system of non-profit insurers that utilize one or a few very large risk pools? The U.S. has the highest per capita health care costs in the world, has 47+ million uninsured and ranks 37th in terms of health access and quality by the World Health Organization. I don't hear of any of these other countries clammoring for a "free market" health care delivery system. Instead, they have moved away from this system, realizing that it was a failure. According to the articles and polls that I have read over the last few years, it appears that more and more Americans are realizing that the present system is a failure and that it won't be sustainable in the future. Just one question for Arron Kinney: If our system is so great, why is it that every industrialized country except for the U.S. has opted for either a single payer system or a very heavily regulated system of non-profit insurers that utilize one or a few very large risk pools? The U.S. has the highest per capita health care costs in the world, has 47+ million uninsured and ranks 37th in terms of health access and quality by the World Health Organization. I don’t hear of any of these other countries clammoring for a “free market” health care delivery system. Instead, they have moved away from this system, realizing that it was a failure. According to the articles and polls that I have read over the last few years, it appears that more and more Americans are realizing that the present system is a failure and that it won’t be sustainable in the future.

]]> By: Peter Cohen, MD http://pnhp.org/blog/2008/07/16/response-to-tnrs-jonathan-cohn/comment-page-1/#comment-54 Peter Cohen, MD Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:24:59 +0000 http://www.pnhp.org/blog/?p=27#comment-54 Provision of health care is not a commodity like soy beans or kim chee--its availability and cost does not follow classic microeconomic supply and demand curves. In a single payer system, there will have to be some rationing /triage of health care with emergencies and urgencies being attended to first and some waiting period for elective care. This may not sit well with those who subscribe to American exceptionism ad the belief in unfettered capitalis ("let the markets decide") but its the only way a common good (universal access to necessary health care) can be provided' Provision of health care is not a commodity like soy beans or kim chee–its availability and cost does not follow classic microeconomic supply and demand curves. In a single payer system, there will have to be some rationing /triage of health care with emergencies and urgencies being attended to first and some waiting period for elective care. This may not sit well with those who subscribe to American exceptionism ad the belief in unfettered capitalis (“let the markets decide”) but its the only way a common good (universal access to necessary health care) can be provided’

]]> By: Aaron Kinney http://pnhp.org/blog/2008/07/16/response-to-tnrs-jonathan-cohn/comment-page-1/#comment-56 Aaron Kinney Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:11:22 +0000 http://www.pnhp.org/blog/?p=27#comment-56 "Are we going to continue to try to finance health care through private plans competing in the marketplace, a guarantee that access and equity problems would only grow worse, or are we going to use our own government resources to fix our financing system so that it works for everyone?" What planet are you from? It has long been demonstrable, and known to many, that single-payer, government-run healthcare REDUCES the consumer's access to medical services and resources compared to a competitive, free market system. Doctor shortages, lack of technology, lack of equipment, lack of consumables, all these things are problems found in monopolized-government healthcare, not free market healthcare. I suppose that next you'll tell us that collective farms produce more food than private farms, and that the USSR and North Korea used to have to ship food assistance to America and South Korea? “Are we going to continue to try to finance health care through private plans competing in the marketplace, a guarantee that access and equity problems would only grow worse, or are we going to use our own government resources to fix our financing system so that it works for everyone?”

What planet are you from?

It has long been demonstrable, and known to many, that single-payer, government-run healthcare REDUCES the consumer’s access to medical services and resources compared to a competitive, free market system. Doctor shortages, lack of technology, lack of equipment, lack of consumables, all these things are problems found in monopolized-government healthcare, not free market healthcare.

I suppose that next you’ll tell us that collective farms produce more food than private farms, and that the USSR and North Korea used to have to ship food assistance to America and South Korea?

]]> By: Dr.SteveB http://pnhp.org/blog/2008/07/16/response-to-tnrs-jonathan-cohn/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Dr.SteveB Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:25:09 +0000 http://www.pnhp.org/blog/?p=27#comment-55 Thanks Don! For my take on this, see also "Single Payer Zealotry - Getting To Real Universal Health Care" at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/16/101014/602/802/552440 Thanks Don!

For my take on this, see also “Single Payer Zealotry – Getting To Real Universal Health Care” at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/16/101014/602/802/552440

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