Sen. Enzi: Private Competition Key to Healthcare Reform

[TorontoCanuck1978]

What a load of crap. The free market should not be involved in healthcare for one explicit reason: Mynopsony. This is much like a monopoly with the difference being that a few companies rather than 1control the market therefore they collude to set prices. This can be seen when you go to a Shell station and see 2 other gas stations nearby with virtually the same price. The people who work there even have binoculars to check each other out! Same thing different industry.

[angelwhite]

Wait times: The _only_ area American health insurance excels in. Notice his absurd paranoid claim that countries with universal health care use waiting times to kill off people whose care would be expensive. That perspective only makes sense if you are more concerned about money than humanity. But if that were the case, you would use the capitalistic health care we see in America, where more money is spent per capita than anywhere else, and only short wait times to show for it.

[elphenom9]

the gop has become reduced to a source of lulz and nothing more

[TinaFunk]

I also am not sure if he has visited an inner city emergency room lately. People have to wait.. some people die waiting to be seen.. because the ERs are being used by many for primary care. The US is towards the bottom of the list of countries with longevity. Those that are fighting against Single Payer or Medicare for All are putting money from kickbacks from the various corporations above the lives of Americans.. and some people are foolish enough to think they are being represented.

[TinaFunk]

It is not about reforming the hospitals as much as it is for people to have access to healthcare before it becomes a crisis and costly issue. We must concentrate on prevention first, and then maintenance. The medicare plan he was talking about was to help eliminate frequency of the elderly making return visits to the hospital because of the cost of medications.. It did not and has not worked. I have seen an increase in returns to the hospital for that reason alone.

[merdufer]

you see, people, there's no use arguing why universal healthcare is a good idea when the senators are getting big money from the fact that you don't have it.

[kaxitaksi]

I've seen a lot of privatizing goin on in scandinavia during last 10-15 years and all of them have failed. "Free market" is not the answer, not even if it's proper regulated by government. The issue here is that those with money don't want to pay for health care that benefits all ppl. So, they privatize it and the ppl with no money have to pay it all on the rich peoples condition on a "free market" arrangement they can profit even more from. Sad...

[marsCubed]

If it was just about costs then items could be traded

But the item in question is people's health.

The bottom line is a demand for universal healthcare, not for cost savings.

Having the decency by not trading in people's health for profits.

Private health care companies have shown themselves not to be good stewards.

Insurers did this to themselves.

The system breaks in monopoly and at saturation.

Free market dogma is all some know.

It is sad.

Are working European models so incomprehensible?

[blackiron60]

Yep, healthcare reform is essentially doomed.

[voyeurdug]

Lies, fear-mongering and prevaricating. Boooring.

[Thealazor]

Difference is only that when everyone is in it and it´s by the people for the people (aka government), it´s non-profit and will therefore work to the benefit of the most people possible. Whoever provides the medical service could be private, but the insurance, the payment, should unquestionably be societal. In Sweden the system is government run for example but many hospitals are private and if you want to "skip ahead in line" you can get private insurance. No-brainer really

[Thealazor]

Anyone, rich or poor, can get sick. You dont choose to contract a chronic disease or suffer a birth defect etc. Most health problems are just bad luck, no one knows who gets them and that´s why everyone in a society should pitch in. If you suffer bad luck, you get your treatment and can live the rest of your life as usual. And if you dont suffer bad luck, you´ll have paid a little more than you got out of the system but that´s what all insurance are.

[Thealazor]

The idea of talking about the "free market" when trying to produce the best health care is laughable. Whan friedmanatics need to realize is that the free market isnt universally applicable. Some areas cannot run by free market principles and produce good results. If you dont regulate them you get what the US has now, or worse, and if you do, but have no public competition, you end up with healthcare with an expensive middle-man. Either way you lose.

[Daniel44125]

I agree the free market is the way to reduce costs in health care. The thing is why wasn't the free market allowed to work for so long and why are the repubs trying to fix it now that the Communist in office is trying to destroy it further. Why did you give him an excuse and allow him to blame it on the free market?