UPDATE #2: And thanks to Lynn Vincent at WorldMagBlog for the link as well. As she told me today, I'm "world famous and totally unknown." How true!
Just a quick note to let my regular readers know about my article published today by The American Thinker, "Governor Schwarzenegger Should Go To Nashville". In light of the Govenator's plan for universal health care scheme for all Californians, I note:
But before riding the universal health care train too far, Gov. Schwarzenegger might want to make a stop in Nashville to see exactly how such a plan has actually worked for Tennessee, where that state's abysmal TennCare program has forced dozens of hospitals out of business, pushed thousands of doctors and other health care professionals out of the state, destroyed any semblance of competitive health insurance market, and nearly drove the state government into bankruptcy.This is based off my experience dealing with TennCare while I was a policy analyst for the Tennessee Institute for Public Policy. My published study of the TennCare system can be found here (though it is quite dated at this point, but the first section about the failures of Tennessee's experiment with universal health care are still valid).
For my previous articles at The American Thinker, go here.
8 comments:
Great article in the American Thinker.
Being from Canada originally, I can testify to the disaster that universal health care is. First, its not cheaper, it just means higher taxes or bigger deficits.
Second, a great illustration is to imagine the DMV being the emergency room.
Such socialistic policies always function on the lowest common demoninator, not the most efficient processes and innovations.
Patrick, great article on AT. One question though....what drove the doctors and hospitals away from TN? How did TennCare impact them in such a negative way?
Jack,
In response, the doctors left because the TennCare reimbursement rates were so low that a number of them could no longer afford to operate. Much like the hospitals, TennCare shifted the cost of the program onto the provider. That's what they considered "managed care". Those that could raise their prices did; those that couldn't left or retired. Some would say that's the market at work, but TennCare was an artificial and profoundly negative force in the market.
Thanks for stopping by.
Patrick,
Thanks for the answer. That is what I suspected, but wanted to be sure.
Jack
I don't have high expectations for the governer, but obviously he's an example of not learning from the past. "The State" is not the answer to all of our ills.
SBD,
Your case is yet another example of the epidemic problems with our health care system and shows how complicated the situation really is. The uninsured are a real problem (I will have a follow-up article at The American Thinker tomorrow discussing my experience as an uninsured American) and the absense of any solutions is wrecking the system for everyone.
But my main point has been that more government intervention into the health care market will not fix the problem, it will exacerbate it. Most of the distortions in health care have been caused by government involvement in health care through mandates, tax policy, etc. If we want to kill off our world-class health care system, getting the government more involved is the exact prescription.
Thanks for stopping by.
There are plenty of
individual health insurance plans in Tennessee . Actually, I think there are too many right now. But that is a good problem to have. Much better off than the New England states which are so tied up with legislative mandates.
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