Krugman: Health Care Realities

I haven't been able to read the news as thoroughly as I want to these days, but I'm trying to catch up before I move out. And then I'll have to play catch up AGAIN since I'm not a fan of watching the news because there are so many awesomely bad shows to see instead. After going through all the headliners, health care reform is one of the major current issues that I really like to sink my teeth into. Krugman described it perfectly:

"it’s not just that many Americans don’t understand what President Obama is proposing; many people don’t understand the way American health care works right now."

Many people who I've spoken with about health care reform fear a government take-over and want to protect their rights as they see it. In reality, the government's already involved. One example: Medicare.

These were some interesting points from the column. It seemed like Krugman was concerned that many American citizens did not know that:

• The government is already involved in health care, even in private insurance.
• Health care depends on insurance. For expensive procedures like transplants or other surgeries, insurance is crucial.
• Private markets for insurance without government aid are most likely to deny as many claims as possible. These insurers are also likely to spend most of the money for underwriting and other expenses not related to medical treatment or bills.
• Most Americans don't buy insurance directly--they get it through their employers.
• Unregulated markets don't work for health care. Period.

Health Care Realities