And that is the moral truth, the hollow truth, but nothing like the economic truth, so help me GDP,
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Medicare
and Hollow Truths
A moral
truth is a hollow truth which must be propped up with gold.
Edgar
Lee Masters(1869-1950), Sexsmith the Dentist
No one disputes the moral truth that health care ought to be
a right for all and that it ought to be
free for all.
No one also disputes the reality that making this moral
truth work depends on a prosperous economy.
The trouble is, as Peter F. Drucker has commented , is
three-fold.
·
Everybody expects universal health care to be
paid for by somebody else.
·
That somebody else ought to be the “rich” paying
for everybody else.
·
There are enough rich people to carry the burden
of any general service, ergo, the middle
class must carry the load.
In effect, the money supporting any general government service depends on general
prosperity. We do not have this in the
United States. The recovery from the
2008 recession is the lowest since World War II, the latest quarter of GDP growth is 0.5% and
2.0% since 2008, the effective unemployment
rate is 10% not 5%, and the national debt
will be $21 trillion shortly after President Obama leaves office. No wonder 65-70% of Americans are pessimistic about the
economy.
It will take a prosperous economy to continue to
finance universal health care’s stepchild,
Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare,
which together already cost in the neighborhood of $2 trillion.
Senator Bernie Sander’s
Medicare-for-all would run an estimated
$15 trillion.
Put this $15 trillion
on top of the current $19 trillion in national debt and a sluggish economy, and
Sander’s proposal, which rests on the moral truth that health care ought to be a right, and you have an unrealistic proposal.
You also have a choice between President Kennedy’s truth, “ A rising tide lifts all boats, “ and
the likely consequence of the Sanders’ proposal,” “ A falling tide sinks all
boats.”
As you consider this choice, remember that Medicare and
Medicaid are on the path to bankruptcy by 2032. The choice then is between: economy growth vs. Medicare coverage for all vs. bankruptcy
vs. entitlement reform. High moral
promises , such as keeping your doctor and health plan and having lower
premiums, and universal coverage, are hollow unless one has the gold to back up those promises.
And that is the moral truth, the hollow truth, but nothing like the economic truth, so help me GDP,
And that is the moral truth, the hollow truth, but nothing like the economic truth, so help me GDP,
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