27 July 2009

Confusion Reigns

Yesterday's New York Times editorial page laid out the health care plan currently working its way around Capitol Hill. It's way too complicated, with the core of the plan being "health insurance exchanges, national or state, which would offer a menu of policies from different companies" that wouldn't even get started until 2013. The system is already complicated enough. Why make it more so?

It seems to me the only way to real reform (short of Canadian or European style universal care which doesn't have a prayer at the moment) would be to regulate the hell out of the insurance and health industries (no more denials based on pre-existing conditions, price controls on premiums, price controls on tests and hospital visits) while at the same time offering the public option for those who still can't afford private insurance.

The proposed plan seems to make the current maze a bit more difficult to navigate.

Update: Yesterday, the Washington Post published an excellent Ezra Klein essay about the current health care debate. I suggest you read the entire piece, but here is the key take away:
Just as Clinton's plan was weighed down by the impression that it would change too much, history may leave Obama's effort vulnerable to the charge that it is changing too little.