Director's Corner

To Fix the Economy, We Will Have to Fix Health Care

This issue of Maryland Policy Reports focuses on health care.  The Unites States has compromised its way into just about the most expensive and least effective health care system in the developed world.  At this point, almost everyone is calling for “reform.”  We will find that “reform” means different things to different people. 

• Coverage
• Consumer choice
• Quality of care
• Reasonable cost

It’s hard to reform health care because the subject is very personal.  The issues are not abstract.  Changes in the health care system can affect our lives in the most personal possible way. Change is always unsettling. So we are wary. 

Another reason health care is hard to reform is because many individuals and businesses earn their livelihood through the existing system.  They are understandably resistant to change.  What one person considers “wasteful spending” is “income” to some other person.

Maryland and America can no longer afford health care that is more expensive than it has to be, or that fails to keep us as healthy as we could be.

Maryland Health Care for All is promoting one thoughtful proposal for improving health coverage.  Branden McLeod outlines its principles in his article in this issue.  It would extend health coverage to all Marylanders while preserving consumer choice and providing incentives for preventive and evidence-based treatment.  It would be financed by a payroll tax plus increases in tobacco and alcohol taxes.  However, the plan would lead to significant reductions in current health insurance premiums.  You can see the details at http://healthcareforall.com/HTML18.phtml.

Health Care for America Now has developed a national plan to expand coverage and reign in costs.  Matthew Weinstein discusses that proposal in his article in this issue.  See http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/. President-elect Obama put forward his health reform proposal during the recent campaign.  You can see the Urban Institute’s summary and analysis at this link.

I believe that sensible health care reforms will be good for health care consumers, good for businesses and good for the economy. Time and money are now wasted through excess administrative costs, lack of preventive care, and uncoordinated, hit-and-miss treatment efforts.  Lives are lost and illnesses prolonged because of our patchwork system of coverage.  775,000 people in Maryland still lack health coverage. 

-Neil Bergsman