> Even if the US got single-payer, I very much worry about
> the influence of Big Pharma, Big Nursing Home, Big
> Hospo, Big Doc, and Big Equip (even if they are lesser
> problems in Canada).
Quite. The Financial Times the other week had a story on the CAW's negotiations with GM and Ford in Canada, and it mentioned that because of the "gaps" in Canadian health coverage (drugs, chiefly), health care costs for the companies' Canadian operations are growing at a rate as fast as that in the United States (though they start from a much lower baseline).
When the Blues want to raise premiums here, they always complain about their members' insistence on buying name-brand drugs. And the thing is, they're right. Those motherfuckers should not be allowed to advertise, period.
> Viva la Finland!
Also true. The right's arguments about "socialized medicine" stifling technological advances in health care and pharmaceuticals sure look ridiculous in the light of tiny Finland, don't they?
Marvin Gandall:
> The modern US health care industry, as you say, is a
> much bigger nut to crack, though I wonder why the
> corps outside of it (perhaps excepting the auto
> industry) haven't pushed for a greater government role
> given their escalating health care premiums. Mostly
> able to pass the costs onto their workers, obviously.
That's part of it, but it can't continue for much longer at this rate. And a colleague of mine who once worked at UE gave an explanation for at least one case -- that of GE. GE is divesting itself of appliances and other things that have to do with consumers (who are too prone to product liability lawsuits). Instead they want all their payors to be governments (especially the military) and other employers. Then they complain to the unions about their rising health care costs, even though meanwhile they're making a killing in their medical devices division -- and the fucked-up US health care system is of course their major source of profit in that regard. They certainly have no material interest in seeing the end of the US healthcare mess. This is why Jack Welch (this time accompanied by his new trophy wife) is at the top of the business bestseller lists again. It pays to be evil, and it pays a lot.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories