Now that’s cynical… on my part!

I agree that healthcare administration classes should include teaching how good programs were crafted in such a political way that the rich get richer, and the poor get screwed.

Health administrators should be educated in how the system is gamed by corruption, and what kind of political corrections need to be made for it to work as it should, in my opinion.

I appreciate your contribution to the comments here.

It is so discouraging to want to help people with the programs you represent, but have your hands tied by regulations that often make no sense and too often leave the most vulnerable folks with the least assistance.

It was more than I could handle, and I empathize completely with your experiences.

Thank you very much for adding to this commentary!

To my way of thinking, this program was mismanaged, so one can only hope that working out a Universal Medical program would be better, having learned from mistakes of the past.

Maybe the Hope for Change pres-elect can pull it off. /snark

My primary hope for a Universal coverage plan would be for those who fall through the cracks of the current systems. It only takes a minor change in one’s income, or government regulations, for someone to suddenly lose their Medicaid, for example. My biggest objection to the Medicare Plan D, besides mismanagement, is that it decreased Medicaid funding, leaving many people without coverage that were previously covered. My hope is that a future plan will make sure that families without insurance because of low income will be able to get a modicum of reasonable healthcare without forcing them into living on the streets.

Obviously, there is no way that private sector companies are going to provide any relief for low income people in any meaningful way.

Again, that’s just my opinion, and I may very well be insane, but I’m not stoopid.

I appreciate your analysis!

I’m glad you are getting some benefit from it and I thank you for commenting!

Without the radical concept of universal care all attempts at “fixing” healthcare wind up being corporate welfare. The post Reagan mantra of privatization being the cure for government has been, I believe, demonstrated to be misplaced faith.

The way I see it is that some things cannot be part of a “free market” assuming such a thing exists. Suppose that air had to be purchased. People would pay any price, and therefore any equilibrium between supply and demand is hopeless. Offering to have government subsidize the purchase of air for those who cannot afford is basically the situation with healthcare today.

Making healthcare universal, seeing it as a public utility and not as a profit center, is the only solution even with its faults. I remember public utilities and I don’t think they were that bad as a model. Privatization does not automatically get rid of inefficiency and can make issues like corruption even worse.

Speaking of corruption, a recent PBS show on healthcare was discussing the costs of universal plans in other countries. Their costs are significantly lower than our corporate welfare program, and that doesn’t factor in the costs of the lives destroyed at its expense. We are spending about 22% in the management of our system while some countries expenditures are in the single digits. Now why is that when we are so competitive and competent and free market and all?