Thursday, April 28, 2011

So Much Money To Be Had

Again and again, our elected representatives have tried to cripple Medicare and Medicaid. They argue unconvincingly that the private sector can do a much better job than government delivering health care services to the American populace. For all their bluster, the one fact they have a hard time overcoming is the low administrative costs of government-managed health care.

As Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program writes,
Our public insurances are our most efficient insurances with administrative costs of around 3%, despite the fact that they cover our most vulnerable and least healthy populations. Administrative and marketing costs for private plans are 15% or more, and the plethora of private plans further increase cost and complexity as patients and health professionals try to navigate their arbitrary and ever-changing rules...
Look at the difference in those figures!! Private plans are, at minimum, 5 times more costly to run. We are always hearing from our leaders that we should run the country more like a "successful business," yet, in this instance, they want to pursue the option that is far less cost-effective.

This right here should tell you all you need to know about this pseudo-debate. If the powers that be genuinely aren't interested in programs that keep administrative costs to the bare minimum, then it is rather obvious that something else is driving them to push for a system of private sector health insurance.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that something else is. It is money. There are trillions upon trillions of dollars to be had and the greedy oligarchs are salivating at the opportunity of getting their hands on it. If you think these folks are rolling in the dough now, it will be but a pittance compared to where they could be if Medicare and Medicaid are eviscerated.

In fact, this is the driver for the entirety of the latest push for mass privatization. The powerful don't give a shit about what is the most cost effective; they simply want more and more government money to fill their wallets.

That's really what this whole thing is about. Plain and simple.

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