Kate did some digging into the relative price growth of Medicare and private insurance, and found some pretty amazing graphs. Then, coming across today's news that Florida is about to radically restructure their Medicaid program, she writes:
The real question, however, is why are we using the failed private market (see cost containment chart above) to reign in costs when the government (see Medicare chart above) is obviously doing a superior job? And as the system prices more and more people out of their employer sponsored (or lack of) insurance, why are we pretending that the same ineffectual system is a magic antidote? The worst part is that this isn't even a new idea! There is not a single shred of novelty in the way care is delivered here -- it's just putting Medicaid enrollees into the same kind of sytem most of the U.S. has. Health care just can't seem to escape the cycle of touching the hot stove, burning and disfiguring its hand, then coming back in five years and forgetting that stoves are hot.
You've got to see the charts and check the rest of the post. It's the best thing you'll read on health care all day.
