Health Care Stuff

I don't really want to write too much about the whole health care reform thing going on right now, because, honestly, I don't understand enough of it to offer much. You might want to bookmark this page, because I'm not sure when I will make a statement like that again.

Anyway, I've been using all the attention on health care to educate myself a little bit and how and why the system works the way it does (or doesn't) and regardless of the outcome from Obama's plan, at least I've learned something. Either way, I still think the best plan for me is just to avoid getting sick/serious accidents/being within a mile of an emergency room.

My biggest single problem with the very idea of health care reform is that I'm not convinced that anyone understands the system well enough to reform it, let alone a bunch of politicians. I doubt the people in Congress who are going to reform the system actually understand the system any better than I do. Do we really want, as John Stossel writes, a bunch of people who have most likely never run a small business trying to overhaul one of the most complex markets in the world? What makes them think they are capable of doing it? They do understand that "Yes We Can" was just a campaign slogan, right?



Although there are plenty of well-informed opinions out there on the health care situation, I've found (not surprisingly) some of the most lucid and convincing arguments come from Megan McArdle over at The Atlantic. In particular, these two posts - though long - are worth a read:

A Long, Long Post About My Reasons For Opposing National Health Care

It's Adverse. But is it Selection?

Ron Paul also entered the blogosphere debate today with this post on the Campaign for Liberty site. He makes more good points for why this is a bad idea.