Newt Gingrich has been a guest on Meet the Press thirty-five times. He’s covered a lot of territory on the show over the years. During his visit on May 15th, host David Gregory asked Newt his opinion of Paul Ryan’s approach to address the budget deficit and ultimately addressing the unsustainable costs of Medicare. He replied, “I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering.”
His defection from the party-line quickly reverberated throughout the conservative ranks raising a huge obstacle to his chances of becoming the Republican nomination
to challenge President Obama in the 2012 presidential elections.Despite speaking the truth, and despite being accurate in his assessment- his thirty-fifth visit cost him a lot. The reaction he received from the Republicans illustrated how far apart we are as a country to address the challenges we are facing. Unfortunately, we are being guided by the far-right or far-left politics when the real solutions are somewhere in between.
In the meantime, our health care costs continue to rise. Price Waterhouse Coopers released a new assessment of the medical cost trends for 2012 (Behind the Numbers; Medical Cost Trends for 2012). While medical cost trends increased 7.5% in 2010, they are projected to increase 8% in 2011, and 8.5% in 2012. As the economy struggles along at 2-3% growth (or less) we just continue to lose ground. Any possibilities for relief through initiatives included in the Affordable Care Act will not be felt for several more years- if at all.
The PWC assessment commented, “An interesting blend of reactions to the recession, the slow recovery, health reform, and other variables will affect the medical cost trend in 2012.” The problem is only going to get deeper the longer we wait to take real action beyond the party-lines of the politics and special interests.
Quite simply, the philosophies of the free-market purists will not solve this problem. The theories of the government-control liberals will not solve it either. We need a rational collaboration of both public and private initiatives to eliminate the waste, reduce the inefficiencies, and develop a solution that makes sense for the country.
Newt’s comment on Meet the Press reflects what we need. Unfortunately he was creamed for saying it.
Let's becareful, some suggest that the free market really doesn't exist as at all times the market is a blend of the public and private sector - The Gov't defines a commodity and the private side sells it, it's a marriage of convenience really.
ReplyDeleteIf we can take the politics out of healthcare the people will be able to solve this, not with ease but it's solvable. Can you imagine if healthcare were asked to revamp Government? That would be fun.
A true free market- as in an "Adam Smith" free market- does not exist in health care (or many of the other markets in America). Which is why the free market on its own cannot solve this issue. I certainly agree that "the people/the public" need to be involved to solve this- politics is simply taking us to extremes in either direction- or paralyzing the ability to make any basic decisions at all.
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