Brooks is absolutely correct that the rhino in this system is cost inflation and it must be tamed. Any legislation that fails to do this is folly.
In Vermont, which is no exception to cost growth, one has only to look at job growth. It is higher in the health care industry, (followed by education) while nearly all other job categories are shrinking. This fact alone points to one reason health care costs are out of control. Costs must be restrained and at the end of the day, painful though it may be, rationing of services and procedures is inevitable.
Where's the debate on how that should happen? Even Brooks doesn't discuss it. Everyone prefers to talk about incentives, disincentives, access and quality. The only point that gets close to the need for rationing is changing the fee-for-service system to something that rewards quality. Those are code words for rationing. If doctors and hospitals don't get paid for procedures and tests, they won't do them. That's a form of rationing.
"Not everything is compatible with everything else. But the point is that you have rhinos at the door! You’ll try anything that works. You want a political class that no longer perpetuates the myth that people can get everything for nothing. You know that it was political pandering that got us into this mess in the first place.
Obama is right. Things will be bad if we don’t tackle the problem this year. Things will be worse if we add to the costs without beating the rhinos."
A hero in the war against fiscal irresponsibility is David Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States for many years. Here's what he had to say about health care reform recently on MSNBC.
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