Random Thoughts about Health Care

Rhetoric on the Affordable Heath Care Act

The rhetoric coming from both sides in their “talking points” is getting tiresome. Any question asked by a reporter is answered by the talking points. The talking points on both side are hyperbolic and not all that helpful. It’s not really worth being fired up about it all until the senate takes action.

Winners and Losers

A lot of the posturing and reporting about health care seems to involve who is winning – the Democrats or the Republicans. My take is that some people who never had much of a chance to get health insurance will be the winners. If that was the intention of Democrats when they passed the Affordable Care Act then they might be considered the winners. Although Democrats lost in the political sense, they have forced Republicans to do more about health care than Republicans ever imagined. Since it’s impossible to get healthcare right, short of making it free to everyone (lots of detractors for that too), Republicans will probably pay a political price for whatever they do. But in the end, more people will have more access to health care than they did before ACA. Isn’t that kind of good?

The Costs

Having said it's kind of good I don't think anyone is really addressing the cost (not of an insurance policy but the cost of subsidies) to the nation. Hard to imagine having the coverage both sides are promising without significant costs.