Organizing for America | Jon Zeitler's Blog: Healthcare Reform As Economic Downsizing

Healthcare Reform As Economic Downsizing

By Jon @ my policy health discussion central - Apr 2nd, 2008 at 3:23 pm EDT

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Tags: health care policy, health care reform, obama health care plan

In my post yesterday I talked about our most expensive healthcare system in the world and how, according to one commentator at least, about 20 to 35 % of our $2.1 trillion annual healthcare bill represents unnecessary care and simple inefficiency. Do that math and you have $400 to $700 billion a year in unnecessary cost.

This points to another important consideration for health care reform. If we reform the system to provide better care and eliminate inefficiency we could be looking at a serious downsizing of a huge sector of the economy which employs many people. There are real economic implications. Of course, I am not suggesting we avoid meaningful reform to keep the money flowing artificially -- and the savings from lower health care bills (for business, government, individuals) – should free up resources for more efficient spending/investment elsewhere – but the displacement that would occur is something to be planned for.

Is this a real potential problem? A legitimate part of the debate? How do we deal with these issues?

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By ArthurPoet Apr 5th 2008 at 6:18 am EDT

Jon,
You know, this is an age old belief/fear that pervades all efficiency/automation efforts, (e.g., this preceded the introduction of robotics in the automotive industry, amongst many others,) and although this might be true, to a certain extent, the over-arching process of making the healthcare industry more efficient, will result in a greater potential in other areas of this industry, as well as, for other industries in general to grow and prosper. And so, yes, there will be "reduction" of jobs in certain areas, and growth of jobs in other areas, in other words, there will be shifts in the nature of employment, but overall, employment opportunities will increase.

I say this as a long time IT professional. When a corporation automates certain processes, the reduction in costs results in greater opportunities for growth. In other words, the healthcare industry should not be viewed as a finite limited thing, and expertise and training in this industry, is often highly applicable in other areas and other industries. And, also of critical importance is the fact that the more efficient we make it, the less time people will need to spend on wasteful time-consuming repetitive administrative tasks and the more time people will be able to spend on providing quality of attention and service to actually helping people.

And, also, ultimately, if we are successful in providing quality universal healthcare, this will *FOSTER ENTREPRENEURSHIP* within our country, which will spawn new opportunities in numerous other areas ... and this is the end goal, I would suggest.

Arthur,

PS #1,
I am new to this site. I just wanted to say that this *MyPolicy Healthcare Discussion HQ* ("forum") is very informative, thank you. I just spent the last 2 hours reading the entire forum and all of the posts from its inception. I have comments to many of your and other people's posts, and pursuant to my availability of time, I will endeavor to do so in the coming days. I am an IT professional in this field and have been studying these topics and addressing issues of this nature across many sectors for years.

PS #2,
I would recommend a few changes in the structure and format to make it more easily navigated and useful as an information resource tool.
e.g.,
Link

PS #3,
Why is there not a similar "DISCUSSION FORUM" within the ENERGY SECTOR section?

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By Tom May 7th 2008 at 12:40 pm EDT

We need to have an open discussion on health care. It is too easy to just say the government will take care of it. The problem is that it is not one issue that can easily fixed. There are a lot of issues. Availability of health care people. (We limit the amount of people entering the field. There are very few independent doctors and nurses.) Malpractice (There are two issues, the insurance costs and the extra tests to cover the doctor. The second one is the biggest issue.) Advertizing (There is way too much of a push by drug companies and hospitals to make the market bigger. Both advertizing that makes people ask for drugs from doctors and doctors giving samples to encourage usage.) Continuing care (This is the most difficult issue. When do doctors stop trying to extend a life? There is a period when you have to let people die.) One of the areas that government could reduce costs and make it more universal. The government could handle the excess market. Costs over a figure (1,2,or 3 million lifetime). That would reduce costs but keep the issues of running the insurance to the experts.

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