Posts
In ancient societies that I studied, for example the Roman Empire, the great problem that they faced was when they would have to incur very high costs just to maintain the status quo. Invest very high amounts in solving problems that don't yield a net positive return, but instead simply allowed them to maintain what they already got. This decreases the net benefit of being a complex society.
This describes the present situation in healthcare.
Healthcare reform may or may not be possible. Congress' legislation may or may not solve the problem. But let me speak plainly: if you favor the status quo, you are living in a fool's paradise, because for precisely the same reasons Rome fell, the current healthcare system is going to fall apart.
The USA healthcare system is plagued by corruption and cronyism. (The constant class-warfare struggle of USA life doesn't help much. The poor can sometimes extract largess from the middle-class taxpayers, the rich can pay for themselves, but the middle class is vanishing with Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound.") In Taiwan, socialized medicine works - possibly because it's less corrupt.
ReplyDelete