Comments on: Debunking Conservative Health Reform Myths http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/08/health-myths/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:42:01 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Capitol Dome http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/08/health-myths/comment-page-1/#comment-3776 Capitol Dome Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:13:42 +0000 http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/08/health-myths/#comment-3776 The government has a unique ability to drive health care costs down, thus making any program more affordable for the taxpayer. There are, however, several powerful constituencies, many of who tend to vote Democrat, that will likely suffer. --Doctors: A government program will likely bargain to reduce payments to doctors for all visits and certain types of treatments. Compared to their European counterparts, American doctors are far overpaid. --Attorneys: To reduce the financial burden on doctors so they don't quit under a system of lower payments, the government will need to reform tort law to limit malpractice damages and thus lower malpractice insurance costs. Malpractice attorneys (well, those who represent plaintiffs) will object to that. Top quality health care isn't cheap. In order to insure everyone without breaking the Treasury, which is under particular strain these days, we'll have to lower costs overall and thus lower the incomes of those who benefit from the current system (drug companies, equipment manufacturers, hospitals, AND attorneys, AND doctors). Those are some powerful constituencies to face down. Can the new Congress and White House do it? We shall see. The government has a unique ability to drive health care costs down, thus making any program more affordable for the taxpayer. There are, however, several powerful constituencies, many of who tend to vote Democrat, that will likely suffer.

–Doctors: A government program will likely bargain to reduce payments to doctors for all visits and certain types of treatments. Compared to their European counterparts, American doctors are far overpaid.

–Attorneys: To reduce the financial burden on doctors so they don’t quit under a system of lower payments, the government will need to reform tort law to limit malpractice damages and thus lower malpractice insurance costs. Malpractice attorneys (well, those who represent plaintiffs) will object to that.

Top quality health care isn’t cheap. In order to insure everyone without breaking the Treasury, which is under particular strain these days, we’ll have to lower costs overall and thus lower the incomes of those who benefit from the current system (drug companies, equipment manufacturers, hospitals, AND attorneys, AND doctors). Those are some powerful constituencies to face down. Can the new Congress and White House do it?

We shall see.

]]> By: albert http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/08/health-myths/comment-page-1/#comment-3768 albert Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:35:00 +0000 http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/08/health-myths/#comment-3768 <blockquote>- MYTH: “The Left’s idea of limiting Medicare spending is to have bureaucrats tell Mom she cannot have the cancer treatment she wants.” [Washington Times, 12/28/2008]</blockquote> Isn't this one particularly nasty? Didn't Obama's mother die of cancer because she had trouble paying for treatment? Or am I recalling that incorrectly?

- MYTH: “The Left’s idea of limiting Medicare spending is to have bureaucrats tell Mom she cannot have the cancer treatment she wants.” [Washington Times, 12/28/2008]

Isn’t this one particularly nasty? Didn’t Obama’s mother die of cancer because she had trouble paying for treatment? Or am I recalling that incorrectly?

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