There's been a lot of talk about health care. So, I did a little research. CMS.gov has a lot of statistics that line up with the site summary below. The Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker site does a nice job of laying it out in one paragraph.
"Health spending totaled $74.6 billion in 1970. By 2000, health expenditures had reached about $1.4 trillion, and in 2017 the amount spent on health had more than doubled to $3.5 trillion. Total health expenditures represent the amount spent on healthcare and health-related activities (such as administration of insurance, health research, and public health), including expenditures from both public and private funds." (healthsystemtracker.org)
We're seeing an annual increase of about 6% since 2000. At this rate, we can expect health care expenditures could be more than 7.5 Trillion by 2030. (I did a little math. If you want me to send my spreadsheet, message me.)
There are a number of variations of a medicare for all program being proposed. Bernie Sanders has arguably offered the most detail in his vision. Critics are pointing to the enormity of the cost - over 30 Trillion dollars in the first decade.
Let's look at our costs now. From 2000 - 2009, the cost was 16 Trillion. Our current decade is coming in at about 31 Trillion. If nothing changes to stop the 6% annual increase of health care expenditures, the next decade will cost almost 60 Trillion!!! It looks to me like that is a savings of about 30 Trillion dollars.
It makes sense that we would save a ton of money with a single payer system. The administrative costs are significantly reduced. It has to be an enormous task for one doctor's office to keep track of every insurance company's requirements. Add in the profiteering of insurance companies and high paid executive salaries and there is a lot of money taken out of the system. No doubt those insurance companies are going to be kicking and screaming.
We're talking about the possibility of having healthcare for ALL at half the cost of what it was going to be for some. Meanwhile, we are addressing the human tole many suffer with the current system. I'm listening. You should be too.
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Monday, April 8, 2019
An odd loop
Several odd things have emerged with Attorney General Barr and the Mueller report. First, that a president cannot obstruct justice because they are in charge of justice. Second, that if no crime is proven, there cannot be obstruction of justice.
The problem with both those arguments is that they enable unchecked power and control. If a president can successfully interfere with an investigation, protect themselves from investigation of criminal actions, nothing can stop them. That leaves our country vulnerable to a president who would desire dictatorship. This would lead to elimination of the the three legs of democracy as the justice system would now be in complete control of the executive branch.
The congress' main job is to pass laws. While, on paper, they would still have that authority, without a separate and equal judicial branch of government, enforcement and interpretation of constitutionality of those laws would be in control of the executive branch.
The constitution provides a broadly worded oversight provision through impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Impeachment is, essentially, a congressional trial of a sitting president. However, if the executive branch can control investigation unimpeded, congress can be denied the factual materials required to make an assessment.
We are now in this odd loop that puts our democracy in a very precarious position. We've been there before but this time appears to be much darker and much deeper.
Never have we had a president who so openly admired dictators and totalitarian regimes. It's difficult to find a time in our history when so many of our people blindly accepted lies as truth or simply overlook the lies and wrong doing believing that some greater good is accomplished.
There is much that has happened over the last decades that have been eroding our democratic system. But this one is destined to put us in a loop that leads to total destruction of this great experiment.
The problem with both those arguments is that they enable unchecked power and control. If a president can successfully interfere with an investigation, protect themselves from investigation of criminal actions, nothing can stop them. That leaves our country vulnerable to a president who would desire dictatorship. This would lead to elimination of the the three legs of democracy as the justice system would now be in complete control of the executive branch.
The congress' main job is to pass laws. While, on paper, they would still have that authority, without a separate and equal judicial branch of government, enforcement and interpretation of constitutionality of those laws would be in control of the executive branch.
The constitution provides a broadly worded oversight provision through impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Impeachment is, essentially, a congressional trial of a sitting president. However, if the executive branch can control investigation unimpeded, congress can be denied the factual materials required to make an assessment.
We are now in this odd loop that puts our democracy in a very precarious position. We've been there before but this time appears to be much darker and much deeper.
Never have we had a president who so openly admired dictators and totalitarian regimes. It's difficult to find a time in our history when so many of our people blindly accepted lies as truth or simply overlook the lies and wrong doing believing that some greater good is accomplished.
There is much that has happened over the last decades that have been eroding our democratic system. But this one is destined to put us in a loop that leads to total destruction of this great experiment.
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