The Truth about Healthcare in America

Needless to say, we'll be hearing more and more about healthcare "reform" over the next year. Pres. Obama made healthcare reform the tall pole in his campaign tent over the last two years. But reform that's not real, just makes a bad system worse. I'm the first to admit that our healthcare system is badly broken. Pretty soon you're going to be hearing proposed solutions from Democratic Washington. But don't take the politicians' word for it. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it generally is.

If you want to get a balanced view of healthcare, download Sally Pipes' book, The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care.Just click here and it will take yout to the download site. It's completely free and a must-read for anyone who wants an informed opinion on healthcare.

You'll hear a lot of proposed solutions over the next several months. Ms. Pipes looks at 10 of them and exposes them for the myths that they are. Here are three:

• Government healthcare is more efficient. Proponents of a government-run health system say healthcare will be more efficient if the government eliminates the "middleman" and directs it all from Washington. But who's a bigger middleman than Uncle Sam? Think about it...what does government do that's more efficient than you or I or the private sector can do? What's government's efficiency track record? How efficient is our tax code? How about our schools? The government runs most schools. How efficient are they? What results to they produce, compared to private schools? How about our government's current experience with healthcare: Medicaid and Medicare. Every try to fill out Medicare paperwork? Ever read about Medicaid fraud? So why would we trust these people with our health?


• Healthcare costs too much; the government can reduce the cost. I suppose Uncle knows a thing or two about overspending, I'll give him that. But why would we think that a national healthcare system would spend less than we spend now? Healthcare costs a lot because you get a lot for it. The average life span increased 30 years over the 20th century. Over the last 50 years death rates from heart disease--our number one killer--dropped by 60 percent. The issue isn't how much we spend on healthcare; the real issue is what we get for it. And we get a good return: dads who live to walk their daughters down the aisle, grandpas watching their grandkids playing Little League, and great grandmas holding a fourth generation baby. Not a bad ROI. Expensive? Yea. Worthwhile? You bet.


• The cost of drugs is driving up the cost of healthcare. Actually, the opposite is true. It takes 15 years and costs over a billion dollars to bring one drug to market in the U.S. But these drugs drive down the cost of healthcare in the long run. Why? Because, for example, the cost of cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor are cheaper than open heart surgery, that's why. Ms Pipes explains how, for every dollar spent on drugs to fight high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, $4.00 to $7.00 are saved in clinical costs.

There's a ton of scientific evidence and just plain common sense in The Ten Myths of American Health Care. Over the next few months, I'll be blogging about them. But just remember, when somebody tells you something that sounds too good to be true--like nationalizing healthcare will improve coverage, improve quality and lower cost--it probably is.

Just thought you might like to know.