Man, people should watch the Dems on healthcare. They trip over each other to give away more than the other.
The Republican debate was far more creative and lively. Rudy stated “We have the best healthcare system in the world” then, if we had socialized medicine, “Where would Canadians go for healthcare?” However he does not acknowledge the problems with costs.
McCain said the problem is inflation. Bringing inflation down would bring down healthcare costs. However, then he blabbered that much of long term care in facilities could be transferred to home health care. No way does he know what he’s talking about on that. Insurance companies will not go for it.
Romney described the Mass healthcare plan, where the state helped the uninsured to buy private insurance, by bringing down the cost of the premium and the deductible.
FRed! said we have the best healthcare system, but it costs more than it should. Beyond that, he became rather vague as to how he would change that.
Huckabee was off and running on how our system needs “major, major repair.” Then, Captain Obvious went into a spiel about a preventive regimen. Duh, Mike.
My own opinion is that the problem of costs lies with the public sector not the private sector. There is, and has been, an immense amount of fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims. I cannot begin to tell you. There are docs that live solely on how much they can extort from the government. I’ve seen it firsthand.
It is harder to get away with that with private insurance claims, but that is done too.
The insurance companies must be vigilant of every charge. That is why the utilization review is the largest department in the hospital. It’s a good place to be to understand how the insurance system works, per company and per policy.
Thanks for your post. I saw the same segment and am impressed by your ability to remember it so well. Good reporting and good assessments on your part! McCain and Huckabee did not sound very Republican, or conservative, in that segment. I expect, or at least hope for, a free market orientation. I value your insights in your last three paragraphs. A Free Republic highpoint.