3 ms·
Reminds me of a section of Dr. Bartlett's talk on sustainability(https://youtu.be/TBtW51D_q2Q?t=860 https://youtu.be/TBtW51D_q2Q?t=860). It is very interesting
by Sacho 9y ago
Reminds me of a section of Dr. Bartlett's talk on sustainability(https://youtu.be/TBtW51D_q2Q?t=860 https://youtu.be/TBtW51D_q2Q?t=860).
It is very interesting to see how a government is forced to grapple with the financial implications of well-meaning policies. Perhaps this is why preventative care needs to be billed as a cost-saving measure, otherwise you have to justify it over many other life-improving programs(education, law and order, defense, even other medical care programs).
The CBO report cited in the article also highlights another troubling point, the insolvency of our social policies:
"From about the middle of the second decade onward, however, the effects of increased longevity would outweigh decreases in per capita health care spending, and outlays would rise; but until about the mid-2060s, that growth in outlays would be more than offset by the increase in tax revenues from higher earnings. The largest deficit reduction from the health-related effects — about 0.005% of GDP annually — would occur from about 2030 to 2035. After the mid-2060s, the deficit would be larger than otherwise because the higher outlays would outweigh the health-related revenue increase."
(simplified, the taxes paid by healthier, longer-living citizens are not enough to offset the extra medical care they are afforded).
- roenxi 9y agoI'm not actually going to read the CBO report, but this article has a bad taste; it looks like political problems being mis-interpreted by the reporter as technical revelation. If long-term impacts on the health system are considered, long-term tax & other productivity related payments need to be considered also. If this is net-negative, then that indicates a problem with the tax system (or possibly the healthcare system is to generous in the long term). That is intensely political ground to say the least. Surely the issues with preventative care are closely linked to the solvency issue.
- zbentley 9y ago> If this is net-negative, then that indicates a problem with the tax system (or possibly the healthcare system is to generous in the long term). Given the number of anecdotal and statistical horrors that occur where the US healthcare system denies large numbers of people care that is unambiguously necessary, I suspect that the larger financial issue lies in the tax system. To be clear: there are huge areas of terrible waste and broken behavior in the healthcare system (to the point that it costs far more than comparable systems in other countries), I just think the missing taxation-responsibility angle is more significant.