The Senate voted this morning and got a healthcare bill out of their chamber. Now key people from the House, the Senate, and the White House are going to meet to hash out the differences. And I am hoping - for substantive policy reasons, contrary to rumors that any progressive opposing the Senate bill is either an idiot or acting in bad faith - that we end up closer to the House version, because the Senate version of the bill does not address the single biggest issue with healthcare in this country, nor does it put us on a path to do so.
Until we get our hands around the problem of paying twice as much as the rest of the world for healthcare that doesn't keep us as healthy as people who pay half as much, we're not actually fixing the real problem with healthcare. We are merely putting bandaids on bullet wounds and pretending like that's all we need to do.
So indulge me in a metaphor, if you will. Imagine you have a leak in your roof. If you fix it now, it's going to cost you $500. If you don't fix it, the water getting into your attic will eventually breed mold, which will cost many thousands of dollars to mitigate - if it hasn't already gotten to the point where your house is unsalvageable.
So what do you do? Do you spend the $500 to fix the leak, or wait and pay the thousands of dollars later?
If you plan on living there for the rest of your life, you will fix the roof now. But what if you know you are going to move next year? Do you hope that the prospective buyer doesn't notice the leak? That by the time the mold sets in, it isn't your problem anymore?
The tenets of capitalism suggest you should defer - you have, after all, deniability. "A leak? Thanks for catching that! It could have ruined the whole house!"
That's exactly the behavior the insurance companies engage in. This kind of distortion of incentives is at the heart of the problem with our healthcare system. They don't do the relatively inexpensive things that would keep Americans healthy, because they figure they won't be the ones footing the bill later when people need really expensive care.
And the current Senate bill isn't going to fix it.
How many stories have we heard in recent years of CEO's and other executives looting, stealing, polluting and wreaking general havoc? The incentive to loot a company's pension funds is money. The incentive to outsource our jobs is money. The incentive to deny needed treatments to an insured patient is money. The incentive to pollute our rivers and air is money.
Generally the incentive to lie, cheat and steal is money. This is especially true in the corporate world where the reason for ... well, everything ... is money. This is normal, and can be kept in check. But the temptation that pushes many over the line is not just money, it is the possibility of the big, humungous jackpot. And that is what we have today.
It used to be that you could make, why, millions of dollars if you worked hard, built a company, invented something important, or had amazing talent. But today mere millions is for chumps. Today you can loot a fund, rig an energy market, forward-run stocks or threaten to bring down an economy and end up with a quick payoff of billions.
When excessive, massive paydays are possible, it opens the door to overwhelming greed and a resulting compromising of principles.
There is a way to prevent the destructive behavior we have been seeing from the top. People won't have an incentive to cheat and steal if they can't get the huge jackpot from the proceeds. Let's limit the possibility of collecting a vast and fast return. The vast and fast return is the motivator, so take it out of the equation.
This week, I had the opportunity to participate with my fellow 5th district candidates in a forum sponsored by WPSU TV to discuss job creation and economic conditions in the 5th Congressional District. As we fielded questions on the various issues, I paid close attention to how my views on job creation and retention along with overall economic development strategy differed from my opponents. What I heard from my Republican opponent was numerous statements about "incentives" and "tax credits" to entice businesses to locate or expand in the 5th district.
Originally posted on The Economic Populist - A Community Site for Economics Freaks and Geeks - Come Visit!
Corporations. $2.5 trillion in sales. Tax liability, zero
brought to you by your tax code at work
Sounds like a slogan to do business in the US doesn't it? Yet assuredly that is not what is happening when corporations line up like the Oklahoma land rush to move to China and India.
Yet, maybe that multinational corporate land rush has something to do with these results?
STATE BLOGS
So indulge me in a metaphor, if you will. Imagine you have a leak in your roof. If you fix it now, it's going to cost you $500. If you don't fix it, the water getting into your attic will eventually breed mold, which will cost many thousands of dollars to mitigate - if it hasn't already gotten to the point where your house is unsalvageable.
