I've been thinking about health care recently. For obvious reasons, this is a hot button issue for me. I'm manic depressive -- the difference between my being on the streets rambling to myself and being a productive member of society is the cost of about four prescription drugs and a monthly psychiatric visit. But right now, I have to work to get the insurance to get the drugs that I need to work, and that's if I don't get the manic-depression excluded for being a pre-existing condition. Oh yeah, and all that's contingent on being able to find a job that offers health care in the first place.
Which is why I found this post from CalPundit so interesting. General Motors intends on making healthcare an important part of the 2004 elections here in the States. Why? Well, you see:
....Cowger said GM's health care costs put it at a competitive disadvantage with foreign competitors. Those companies have younger workers than the United States and few retirees, he said. And many have some form of national health care system in their home countries.
Now, as CalPundit points out, Cowger is not for government ran health care yet. But to be honest, it's simply a matter of time.
And to make things more interesting, I came across this quotation in the comment thread:
A recent study showed that General Motors in the U.S. pays an average of $772 per car in health care coverage, compared to $200 per car in GM's Canadian operations.
Now, the source for that is a Canadian Government page extolling the virtues of moving your company to Canada, but the point still stands.
When it comes down to it, who's paying that extra $572 a car? Well, either GM eats it, the employee is forced to pay it, or you pay for it when you buy a GM car.
And part of the reason health care is spiralling out of control in this country is the high numbers of uninsured people in this country. Think about it this way. Hospitals are forced, by law, to treat destitute patients in the emergency room. ER services cost more than normal care. The hospitals are forced to recover this in some fashion, resulting in higher prices for everybody.
It's a mess. And I'm not sure how to fix it. But we're going to need to do something fast, or things are going to get more perilous for US workers competing in the global economy.
Posted by katster at February 3, 2004 04:31 AM
Gah, that car thing's a shock. I knew American medical coverage was ridiculous in terms of price, but I didn't know it was that big a difference.
Do you see any of the Democratic candidates doing anything particularly radical about it? Alternately, do you think foreign pressure through the job situation and price differences will force it in over time?
Posted by: Zibblsnrt at February 3, 2004 05:07 PMSingle-payer; the only way to go, like the rest of the industrialized world.
But the health insurance industry lobby has a powerful grip on Congres, and people get spooked by the "socialized medicine" smear. The facts - such as the stats from GM - just seem to in one ear and out the other.
Posted by: andante at February 9, 2004 06:21 PM