Commentary: Michigan tailor-made for bold plans on health care, energy
By Rex Nutting
MarketWatch
January 15, 2008
The best presidents know when to lead and when to follow.
The current crop of candidates isn’t doing either when it comes to the biggest issues facing the economy: health care and energy.
The campaign stop in Michigan this week was tailor-made for one candidate to break away from the pack by showing a willingness to follow the public’s lead on health care while providing some real leadership on energy. But it didn’t happen.
Michigan’s economy has been devastated by the transformation of motor vehicle manufacturing.
What’s happened to Michigan? The same thing that’s hurting companies and consumers all over America: Exploding costs for health care and energy. Fixing those problems would go a long way toward fixing Michigan, and the rest of the U.S. economy as well.
Health care
Because the United States is the only advanced country that doesn’t have a national health care system, the Big Three companies (and every other company that wants to attract good workers) must bear the cost of health insurance. The Big Three also cover the costs for most retirees.
The answer is simple: Get out of the way and follow the people, who overwhelmingly support universal health coverage. Enrolling every American in a health insurance system run like Medicare would extend care to millions of uninsured Americans, cut costs by eliminating unnecessary paperwork, and would probably improve the quality of care.
None of the major candidates has endorsed such a simple solution, preferring elaborate Rube Goldberg plans that might bring a few more people under insurance coverage, but would not fundamentally change what most Americans believe is a deeply flawed health-care system.
Michigan could have used some bold ideas, instead of the safe but bland porridge it got.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/candidates-missing-key-opportunity-lead/story.aspx?guid=%7B2E644345-1DCD-4F9E-BA1B-3A398736A30B%7D
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Supporters of national health insurance certainly can identify with these comments. But why are they worth sending out as a Quote of the Day? It’s the source of the comments. Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch, a subsidiary of Dow Jones and Company.