Health Care Increases its Dependence on Taxation

Reader comment on: Mayo on Medicare

Submitted by Larry Becker (United States), Dec 24, 2009 04:34

Excellent comments. There is a lot to like in the Health Care Bill. There are improvements on things like measures freeing medicare data for public use (enables the use of physician identifiers), some pilot projects to use value based designs and the development of ACO (Accountable Care Organizations) and development of a comparative effectiveness infrastructure. What is worrisome is the cost and frankly the lack of imagination and real programs to reduce the rate of increase.

The best idea all these folks came up with was reducing reimbursements. With the exception of 1997 Congress has never been able to sustain a reduction in reimbursement rates...not that it is a good idea. But that suggests that costs will be rising at rates that far exceed general inflation. It isn't necessarily a bad idea for the health care to become a larger proportion of the economy (it is the rate of increase that is problematic).

What is the issue is that it becomes a larger portion of the public economy depending on increasing rates of taxation to support itself. To read more about the health care delivery system or the health debate go to www.ilovebenefits.wordpress.com


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Other reader comments on this item

Title By Date
prolific totalitarianism [104 words]egoistDec 24, 2009 06:00
⇒ Health Care Increases its Dependence on Taxation [193 words]Larry BeckerDec 24, 2009 04:34
At the gates [68 words]John CalomirisDec 24, 2009 00:17

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