Government Printing Presses Are Running

Historically, health care inflation is greater than general inflation. The availability of sophisticated diagnostic equipment and testing, use of new technology, and new expensive treatments have been responsible for this inflation. In those periods when government attempted to control health care inflation through price controls (Nixon) or limit access to new technology (Health Systems Agencies), these efforts postponed but did not limit inflation. Historically, attempts to control health care costs have delayed the introduction of new life-saving technology and treatment, which is not a sensible direction to pursue.

America's printing presses are running overtime printing dollar bills to correct for America's incompetency in regulating our financial industries in their obscene boom and bust activities. Inevitably, massive government spending of money it doesn't have is followed by another form of economic instability - severe inflation, a component of which is likely to be even more severe health care cost inflation. The elderly, in particular, who depend on fixed income and have no hedge against inflation, will be hard put to meet the inflated costs of health care, and particularly pharmaceuticals, if we continue our current system of financing and providing care. Those whose assets are depleted or destroyed during our current depression will be unable to create a financial cushion to protect themselves against health care inflation and may increasingly be unable to afford (or their employers may be unable to afford) health insurance. In short, our health care systems' troubles, while not attracting as much attention as the collapse of our banking, credit, insurance and financial systems, place us standing on a banana skin on the brink of a deep precipice. This is made all the more difficult because health care purchased with credit cards is essentially shielded from bankruptcy protection (another gift of our Congress to the credit card industry).

Neither Obama nor McCain is dealing seriously with these impending threats. The plan that I proposed in my last blog is a lifeboat which holds some chance of being able to provide appropriate health care in the time of economic turmoil which we have entered. We need real substantive change in our health system, not just words which are decoupled from action.