Posted by
Always To The Right on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 1:53:02 AM
Anyone who thinks a national single-payer system would be an
improvement isn't paying attention. Medicare, which provides coverage
for less than 15% of the population, can't get it right.
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Medicare and Medicaid, the program for low-income Americans, cover a
quarter of the U.S. population and will account for a fourth of federal
outlays this year.
No matter how much a Washington player promises that he or she can
bring health care costs down through a national system, the numbers say
that under a universal program, the entire federal budget will be
dedicated to providing health care.
Like it or not — and we don't — Medicare and Medicaid, both
established in 1965, have become deeply embedded in the American
fabric. They will not go away. The best we can hope for is some sort of
reform that lessens the taxpayers' liabilities and increases the
responsibility of individuals.
What the country doesn't need is universal care. If universal care is the only alternative, we'd prefer the status quo.
But even that's trouble. Already Medicare's Hospital Insurance is
paying out more in benefits than it takes in from tax revenues. By next
year, outlays for the entire program will exceed income. The Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted by 2019.
If Washington can't run a program for 44.1 million people without
bankrupting the nation, how can it possibly operate a national health
care system for more than 300 million?
But unless Republicans resolve to stop the movement for good, Washington will surely try — and fail.