Posted on 09/19/2011 6:38:14 AM PDT by Kartographer
Jeffrey Miron economics professor at Harvard university and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute isn't so doubtful. He's out with a report of his own that states, "state government finances are not on a stable path; if spending patterns continue to follow those of recent decades, the ratio of state debt to output will increase without bound." Driving those costs he says are health care costs. "Things are bad for basically all the states for almost identical reasons," Miron says in the accompanying interview with The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task. In addition to the bad fundamentals, many states are, "not stating their current fiscal situations accurately," Miron concludes. The problem is pension liabilities are not being accounted for in state budgets. The results: states across the country, he estimates, are underestimating their liabilities by $1-2 trillion.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Who cares what Communist Harvard academics have to opine about anything
It’s highly probable that all the states are doing fancy book work to make things look better than they are.
If he’s a senior fellow at Cato, then he’s one of the good guys. Every university has a few token good guys — for “diversity,” I think. Or perhaps more for amusement in the faculty lounge. “Hey Fred! There’s Jeffrey. Did you hear he published a paper saying the states can’t sustain their pension programs! What a kidder he is!”
Read carefully, first line:
"Jeffrey Miron economics professor at Harvard university and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute . . ."
Actually, Jeff Miron is very conservative.
Oh, okay. Well thank you for letting me know.
Normally when I hear Harvard I discount it.
Antecdotedly, this has the strong ring of truth to it, also. Out own Federal government routinely understates or fails to mention its obligations with regards to health care (medicare, medicaid) and pensions (social security). Why should the other 50 largest government units in the nation do anything different?
What has increased, and continues to increase, is the massive middleman infrastructure that has grown into the system. Firms that handle paperwork, mandated filings, and mandated patient record sharing. These costs will continue to escalate, as there's no incentive anywhere in the system to dial it back - the costs are hidden from consumers, corporate health care providers are calculating an annual increase in fees for these services, and zero efficiency is entering the system.
Meanwhile, others are jumping on the money train. Finding local budgets to be stretched thin, fire departments are now billing insurers for rescue calls, services already paid for by the taxpayer, and used to pay...for insurance costs for firefighters.
The gross failure in the whole system is that all costs for group plans are hidden from those they serve. A lot of people would be outraged to see a $180 bill for paperwork filing, but this is a routine cost for a lot of union health plans, many of which are paid by taxpayers.
If companies stopped managing health care plans and instead go to a monthly stipend where people can choose to buy health care plans, or manage their own health care - an option that many younger workers would greatly benefit from - then those middleman costs would finally be pressured to be reduced. Patients, when using their own money, might not opt for the most expensive drug being pushed by the pharmaceutical companies and instead opt for already proved generic drugs.
For some, costs would rise, but really it would be in line with the amount of services they are receiving. If five percent of the patient population are using fifty percent of the resources, then likely they should be paying more for those services, instead of the enforced subsidizing that is occurring right now. And men and post menopausal women shouldn't be forced to pay for health care plans that include pregnancy care or birth control, as is the present plan being fronted by Obamacare.
If the health care providers were handling automobile repairs, you'd be paying an average of $420 a month for a high deductible mechanical plan, and honestly, if your car requires five thousand dollars a year in maintenance, you either own a very very expensive car, or are driving a car that should have been in the junkyard long long ago.
Don’t worry - Obama will find a way to again bailout the States in the form of a “stimulus” program of some sort.
if he’s also at the cato institute,
is he a communist?
yeah yeah ken, the others pointed this out already.
Shheesh, I explained that if they are at “Hahvud” I automatically discount their credibility
Have no freaking clue what is the Cato Institute. If he is so conservative, shy is he associating with Harvard?
i apologize.
i don’t read all the comments.
He probably got the janitor closet at Harvard as his office.
Miron has been a common guest on CNBC over the years, and has always advocated for less federal government control and meddling with the economy. His comments have always been spot on.
The Cato Institute is a Libertarian think tank. He’s probably at Harvard because the pay, and bennies are good and it looks good on a resume.
Yeah? Well, I reported my wife’s parakeet to Attach Watch. It pinched a loaf on Obama’s picture in the newspaper she lines the cage with.
Jeff is a sharp guy and can explain complicated issues in terms that the layman can understand.
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