The Real Problems
Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
I
am becoming weary of the continuous political games President Obama and
Congress are playing.
President
Obama does best on playing the blame game.
Republicans
do not know how to deal with President Obama.
As
we approach another Debt Ceiling increase neither the President, congress or
the press are discussing the major problems the country faces.
One
of the major problems is government waste in all departments and all agencies.
The
waste is reproduced by multiple agencies creating an increasing number of bureaucracies
leading to additional regulations. Some regulations are difficult to understand
and many impossible to enforce.
The
inability to enforce regulations leads to more agencies and greater waste.
The
unsustainable entitlement spending for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security
are the key drivers of America’s deficit spending.
If
these entitlements were originally constructed properly they would be cost effective
and sustainable. They would not be a threat to America’s solvency.
They
would be actual trust funds. They are presently virtual trust funds. The
government borrows the money collected in the name of the trusts from the trust
funds in order fund increased government spending.
The
Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund receive unsecured government obligation
bonds the trust funds cannot call.
Essentially
the two funds are left to pay their obligation on a pay you go basis. As
Medicare and Social Security rolls increases and longevity increases there will
be more recipients than funders of Medicare and Social Security.
Our
“under-informed society” is not aware of these facts. No one has explained it
clearly enough to create a consumer reaction.
“It is an
unfortunate fact that these programs cannot be modified for the long-term
without the cooperation of both houses of Congress and the White
House.”
“There is
absolutely no interest on the part of the Democrats in the Senate or Obama, in
being serious about any meaningful reform, except to demagogue these issues.”
The
media discusses everything but the causes of the problems. The public remains
uninformed.
The
administrative waste in Medicare has been estimated to be $250 billion dollars
in 2008. None of this waste has vanished.
Instead
the bureaucratic structure under Obamacare is causing the waste to increase.
Below
is the new bureaucratic structure being developed by Obamacare.
Each one of
these agencies creates rules and regulations. There have been 22,000 new healthcare regulations to date and
still counting.
Most of the
regulations pretend to add value to the healthcare system. However they all
make the healthcare system more complex and complicated. The regulations
decrease the ability of physicians to help patients get well and stay healthy.
The
regulations create industries for secondary stakeholders. These secondary
stakeholders make more money from the bureaucratic healthcare system.
America has
been warned before. Listen to the following You Tube
John Mackey,
CEO of “Whole Foods” is warning us again. The media has obfuscated his point by
jumping on him because he used the word fascist.
The media has
blamed him for calling President Obama a fascist. He did not call President
Obama a fascist. However the “media is the message” and his real message has
been obliterated.
He is
promoting his new book ”Conscious Capitalism: Liberating
the Heroic Spirit of Business.”
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/john-mackey-whole-foods-/50f802b678c90a0f500001ba
His position
is capitalism creates value. Capitalism with higher value creates more value.
He is against total
government control over commerce. He state there are two kinds of government
control.
- Government controls the system by regulations and owns the
means of production. - Ownership of the systems is privatized. Production is
privatized to private companies but production is totally controlled by
excessive government regulations. This leads to inefficient production.
Mr. Mackey’s
point is neither system works. Free enterprise works because it creates
competition. Free enterprise “capitalism” should have a conscious. Free enterprise businesses must have a higher
purpose.
Why do
physicians exist?
Physicians’
higher purpose is to make people well. Making money should be secondary and is
in most cases. However they should be compensated for their skills.
A plumber
should have a higher purpose rather than just making money.
The higher
purpose cannot be forced on the individual by government. It can only be
adopted through competition in a consumer driven healthcare system.
Mr. Mackey
wrote a beautiful article in the WSJ in 2009. President Obama and his
administration have ignored Mr. Mackey’s WSJ 2009 advice.
I think it is time our government starts
listening to our successful entrepreneurs.
Government
must be honest and transparent and inform the public with correct information.
Only then can America be in a position to balance the budget and eliminate
waste.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.
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