Government vs market reforms - What’s The Right Mix of Private and Government Health Care?

This is April 30, the very last day of national poetry month,

A fitting time, I would say, for a poem about the trillioneth,

$2.2 trillion, to be precise, on health care the U.S spends

A number that an annual rate of 8%-10% always ascends.

It’s said by some only in God can we trust,

But other say it’s realistic data or go bust.

It’s either data,

Or costly errata.

With these thoughts firmly in mind I came across this table,

the numbers of which the rest of this poem will enable.

Health Care Insurance

Private Insurance 67.9%

Employer-Based 59.7%

Direct Purchase 9.1%

Government Insurance

Medicare 13.6%

Medicaid 12.9%

Military 3.6%

Uninsured 15.8%

For me that puts the whole matter in context

Whether your politics are concave or convex.

Some say these numbers call for more federal mandates,

Or, at the very least, for extensive marketplace rebates.

I’m not so cocksure,

We can for all insure.

My reasoning may be a bit light,

But the numbers seem about right.

A two-thirds burden for the private sector,

Just over one-fourth to the government specter.

What worries me is the final one-sixth of the mix

The feds and business together have that to fix.