BOOK REVIEW by Joanne B. Conrad, Top Ten Myths of Amer.HealthCare

Submitted 9/10/09:


The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care
by
Sally Pipes

The 10 myths are: (1) Government health care is more efficient; (2) We are spending too much on healthcare; (3) Forty-six million Americans cannot get health care; (4) High drug prices drive up health care costs; (5) Importing drugs would reduce health care costs; (6) Universal coverage can be achieved by forcing everyone to buy insurance; (7) Government prevention programs reduce health care costs; (8) We need more government to insure poor Americans; (9) Health information technology is a silver bullet for reducing costs; and (10) Government-run health care systems in other countries are better and cheaper than America’s.

Some supporters of national health care legislation have criticized this 2008 book, but the 301 end notes/references suggest serious research. Some resources are the Census Bureau, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Congressional Budget Office, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of Management and Budget, university studies, the AMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Center for Disease Control, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, et al.

Myth #1 is surely apparent when one considers some recent snafus such as the Veterans Administration’s sending 1700-4000 letters to veterans that they have terminal ALS, the Social Security Administration’s sending 10,000 checks to deceased persons or 2200-4000 checks to prison inmates, recent SEC and FINRA errors, and Medicare’s and Medicaid’s waste, fraud, and abuse. A July 30, 2009, Associated Press release details the Medicare Fraud Strike Force’s recovery of $371 million in false Medicare claims in a dozen targeted cities. Perhaps this activity should be expanded before enacting a new government program. If reports that Medicare Part A will be insolvent in 8 years, where will we get $1 trillion (or even $900 billion) over 10 years for a new government program? Should Medicare’s insolvency be fixed first?

Myth #3 says there are 46 million Americans who cannot get health care. The 46 million include about 10 million non-citizens, 18 million who earn over $50,000 a year who refuse to purchase health insurance, and about 14 million who qualify for Medicaid and/or SCHIP for their children and who do not enroll themselves or their children. Some estimates bring down the 46 million Americans to around “8 million…chronically uninsured, and they really do need help.” Should the administration help those instead of enacting an expensive new government program?

Space prevents describing the other 8 myths, but they are all thought-provoking. As Congress doesn’t always read its bills, something like this probably goes unread, too.
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