Since this is our last post of the semester, I thought it would be appropriate to make some predictions of what HEALTH CARE in the U.S. might look like 10 years from now (based on current trends of course).
1. Government health care will push private health insurance companies to bankruptcy (they will probably be bailed out though) ha ha.
2. More Americans will have access to health care and will no longer have to choose between food or medicine.
3. Taxes to pay for gov't health care will increase
4. Quality of gov't health care will decline over time (cutbacks) as Washington feels pressure to lower taxes.
5. We will see nightly reports on the news talking about how we can continue to fund gov't led healthcare.
6. Hospitals and health care workers will become frustrated by "big brother" dictating how they give care.
7. Drug companies will be forced to lower the cost of their Rx medications (although, being this is a 500 billion dollar industry, it's hard to see them taking it in the shorts).
8. People will get tired of gov't supervision, and the pendulum will start to swing back the other way.
If I were really taking a Nostradamus approach, I would have had to disguise my predictions in the form of a riddle and or symbol. But, thankfully, today we still have (some) freedom of speech.
I know my predictions sound different from my once optimistic view of gov't led health care. Over the course of the semester and about 75 news articles later, I find myself seeing that any extreme change to health care will have a profound effect. I now believe that balance is the key to most things in social policy. Also, broad, sweeping federal policies don't always work that well for everyone.
Thank you all for your wonderful posts.
Please, feel free to make your own predictions on my blog.
(Someone could still be Edward Cayce or Hal Lindsay).
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What about including pets on health care for a prediction? Like if I have a pet goat named Bill Grogan, I just call him "goat" for short, those nasty trolls under bridges (health care/insurance companies) will try to eat him alive. It is hard to know what will come but it always seems greener on the other side. Somehow, someone will have to come along and "buck" the system.
ReplyDeleteDan, Great predictions. Yes, balance is key to success in most any endeavor that promotes the public good.
ReplyDeleteI see a parallel with the housing/financial industries, in that lack of appropriate regulation has contributed to, if not caused, the goose to be killed in the health care industry.
When I was younger, employer sponsored health care was affordable and provided excellent coverage. Sadly, I don't think we can go backwards. Somewhere along the way, it became a profit-making enterprise, rather than a service to people. Likewise with medical equipment manufacturers and drug companies. And those companies made great profits for their shareholders...you know the rest of the story.
It's gonna be a dogfight--probably worse than gay marriage--because so much money is at stake. Hang on to your predictions. Hopefully you'll live long enough to see what comes true!