Clinton Offers Hillary Care Mark II

Over a dozen years ago as First Lady, Hillary Clinton led a feeble and failed attempt at reforming American healthcare. Her plan was unworkable, intricate, and designed largely to ensure that a single payer system never arose in the US. Now as Candidate Clinton, she’s back with a $110 billion reworked plan that will be more saleable, but it’s a plan that doesn’t attack core issues.

In brief, her plan requires all Americans (including the 47 million who can’t afford it) to have health insurance, either keeping their current plan, changing to a different plan or buying into Medicare or the federal employees’ plan. Those unable to afford such coverage will receive tax credits to help, which is great if they earn enough to pay income taxes (but many don’t). Businesses will still have to provide some coverage or help pay for the government programs. It doesn’t address soaring costs, it requires business continue paying a healthcare tax that foreign competitors don’t, it doesn’t address federal regulation of the industry, it doesn’t address the needed consolidation in the business of insurance, and it does little to shift from treatment to prevention.

What no one wants to admit is that medical care is a finite service while society’s appetite for that service is almost infinite. That means that there must be some kind of rationing system, and in America, the preferred way to ration things is by way of the marketplace. Care is rationed based on how much insurance coverage one has and how much money is in the bank.

At the same time, medical care is a human right in the sense that every sick or injured human being should receive some kind of medical attention – regardless of wealth. This, of course, means that the market will not be able to provide a complete solution. A minimum must be provided to all. Much like defense and education, government must ensure that everyone gets a socially acceptable amount of healthcare. If one wants to spend beyond that (private bodyguards, personal tutors), one should be able to do so.

Oddly, this is the very system that has been adopted in most of Europe and the rest of the developed world. Even in a country like Britain with its famous National Healthcare System, private insurance is affordable and available (BUPA). Similar systems in Scandinavia and France provide better overall medical outcomes than the existing American system. Mrs. Clinton has put the cart before the horse again. Medicare (which has administrative costs of 1.5% of budget) should cover everyone, and those wanting more can pay for it privately (to an industry that has an average administrative cost of 18% of budget). As proposed, the gilt-edged policies for the well-to-do will continue, barebones care may be cobble together for the poor, and there will (as usual these days) be no good option for the middle. She’s done it again.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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