Clinton warns Canadians against letting ‘finance tail wag health care dog’
By Angela Pacienza
The Canadian Press
May 15, 2006
Asked about the growing interest by some for a privatization of the health-care system, former U.S. president Bill Clinton said Monday night that Canadians should think long and hard before making any move.
But (at the inaugural World Leaders Forum in Toronto) Clinton said the last thing anyone would want to do is let the “health care finance tail wag the health care dog.”
He said America did just that and the system is a mess.
He said the U.S. spends 34 per cent of its health-care costs on administration, equalling $280 billion “to pay two million people to go to work every day for all the providers and insurers and play tug-of-war.”
“It is insane,” said Clinton. “It is a colossal waste of money. Don’t go down that road. Don’t do anything that will lead to increased administrative costs.”
Comment:
By Don McCanne, M.D.
Now President Clinton gets it. But he’s no longer president.
The important question: Does Senator Clinton get it? Or for that matter, do any of the other would-be presidents?