Is Wealth Redistribution the Best Way to Get Excellent Health Care?

Dr. Berwick, the new interim apppointment to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is in the news a lot lately over his remark about “… any health-care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must – must – redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and less fortunate.”  Is wealth redistribution the best way to get excellent health care?  Is forced socialized medicine for all Americans the way to help some Americans who need help with paying for health care?  And … if Medicare is teetering on bankruptcy now with an unfunded liability of $38 Trillion, how can we expect the government to fund a complete takeover of the health care industry?  Let’s talk about it now.

Here’s the bottom line.  Is wealth redistribution the best way to get excellent health care?  The answer is an emphatic NO!   Here are a few reasons why the answer is NO!

1.  Big government has a bad track record of running Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.  There is no reason to believe ObamaCare will be run any better.  We can expect higher costs for premiums and lower quality health care.  Look at the Massachusett’s universal health care program to see how costs have skyrocketed.

2.  Shortages and rationing are inevitable.  Look to Britain and Canada to see how poorly rationing works.  Look at all the examples of people denied the tests, treatments, and drugs that are vital to save lives.

3.  Redistribution of wealth means burdenly tax-paying Americans with more taxes.  Taxes are already too high and are killing jobs now.  More taxes mean more job losses.  Expect unemployment to increase dramatically as the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011 and many, new taxes kick in.

4.  Redistribution of wealth also means economic growth will be curtailed.  The whole economy will be hurt.  Within the health care industry expect fewer innovations in drugs, medical devices, tests, and treatments.

5.  ObamaCare is not needed.  The problems with our pre-ObamaCare, health care system centered largely around an intricate and complex set of regulations, subsidies, and tax policies that hurt the system.  About 50% of all health care expenditures were controlled by government and much of the rest was indirectly controlled by government.  Government was the problem with our health care industry.  More government control will only exacerbate the problems.

The list goes on.

Remember, it might take some time in some countries.  But, socialism always leads to moral and economic bankruptcy.

Citizen Economics Blog – News, Analysis, Insight, Practical Knowledge by Gerard Francis Lameiro, Ph.D.