The smartest people in the world learn from everyone and everything - to dismiss what lessons can be learned in a foreign country - because it is a foreign country or has some other not so envious condition is to be blind - completely blind and closed off to ideas. That's not a very smart way to find solutions. You pick and choose from the best of what works. You leave behind the bad habits or missteps and learn from the mistakes of others. Check your red, white and blue arrogance at the door if you really want to learn anything and live in a better more peaceful, stable, equitable and sustainable world.
The fact remains that big insurance by refusing care to patients and reimbursement to doctors over typos has ticked everyone off - both patients and doctors.
They have a virtual monopoly over the whole process a hugely well financed lobby team and representatives on both sides of the isle.
At the end of the day healthcare reform is about the take down of a system that is squeezing profits out of everyone so hard that it is crippling the economy.
A friend of mine recently laid off without children - just he and his spouse is paying $2,500.00 dollars a month for his COBRA - that is outrageous. Health insurance costs more than his mortgage - unbelievable.
If you think the status quo is going to self regulate - in any market sector, insurance, timber, big pharma, finance, coal, oil, or nuclear - then you don't know how the "real" world works.
From the guy who runs a Kinko's worrying about the Copy Connection opening up down the street - every single individual business man wants to "corner" the market.
It's up to the people through the execution of laws to unlock their grip when it harms the overall markets.
Individual corporations work at cross hairs to the health of the overall market. Self interest isn't good for the overall health of the markets when it runs rampant and chokes off the competition smothering and in some cases outlawing innovation, technology, advancement, and invention. We all loose then.
The "free market system" is a myth and if left to its own devise as so many corporatist trust it should - it leads to anarchy - boom, bubble and bust and hyper economic cycles once every 15 years.
The markets crave and deserve stability. That's why foreign countries invest here in our Country. Stability for your hard earned cash is lucrative. And economic growth thrives on competition. You want a better return on your money you better hope for a robust, secure and vibrant market. Not one "cornered" by a stagnant antiquated status quo draining as much of the froth and discretionary income off the top for itself and itself alone.
You want venture capital you better make sure small business and the middle class are firing on all cylinders. 90% of the wealth concentrated in 1% of the population will dry up the economic engine - it doesn't trickle down - it gets horded at the top. Yacht sales can not sustain 350 million people.
The "public option" using the bureaucracy of medicare that is already set up and running processing a billion claims a year is the smart, efficient way to go.
Pooling that many people together will incentivise the private sector to stop gouging us - as we lay on our sick beds.
As it stands right now the economic impact of getting sick to the individual is catastrophic and that effects the whole market system because lots of people get sick.
When Bush implored people to go out and spend - well that's kind of hard to do when you are buried in health care bills, filling and refilling out forms and in foreclosure because you made a typo.
The system is broke and well heavily stacked in the insurance industry's favor - with no incentive except global economic melt down to fix it.
Oh wait a minute didn't that just happen....
Paul Burke
Author - Journey Home
Want to help check these links for information and ways to take action here, here, and here.
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