I think it's a shame that Tyler Cowen believes Paul Krugman and I worry about our health care system for reasons of "partisanship." The graph he's staring at says nothing about Republican or Democrat. And it's not hard to interpret. Over there, on one end, with a really high bar, is America, where lots of people are dying needless deaths because our health system is ineffective, inequitable, and as focused on delivering profit as intervening in health crises. On the other end are the health systems of many other countries, which appear* to do a better job of intervening during health emergencies. Why this would be a partisan problem is, to me, among the most baffling realities of contemporary politics. I would happily appoint a bipartisan commission of serious students of health policy to work on a fix. I have no problem working towards reform that prominently includes conservative insights. If George W. Bush would like to put his name on a serious reform plan that covers the 47 million uninsured and increases health security for the rest of us, I would happily let him add that to his legacy. I'm willing -- indeed, aching -- to be "bipartisan" here. What perplexes me -- well, it doesn't really perplex me, but it is saddening -- is that there are so very few opportunities to do so. That said, there are easy things we could do to replicate some of the lifestyle advantages of European countries. We could subsidize olive oil. Stop subsidizing corn. Subsidize fruits and vegetables. Stop subsidizing soy. Change land use policies to increase walkability. Change environmental policies to decrease pollution in urban centers. Offer tax breaks to green grocers who open outlets in under-served areas. Make prescription drugs more affordable. Make basic health care more accessible, as the French do, by helping the poor reach general practitioners as soon as they get sick, rather than forcing them into emergency rooms long after they've fallen ill. And so forth. *I say "appears" because Warren Meyer raises some fair methodological concerns about the study. I've e-mailed both of the report's authors with the criticisms, and will report back when I receive their replies.
