Comments for Ryan on Medicare: More Mind Reading at the NYT at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.cepr.net Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:15:17 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/ryan-on-medicare-more-mind-reading-at-the-nyt#comment-19566 The U.S. lets the price of a medical education go up (partly through subsidies), while keeping the supply of doctors down. HMOs and hospitals try to save money by importing medical graduates, and now about 30% of young doctors are imported. But the net result is still a short supply of overpriced doctors. We should train more. Unfortunately, Uwe Reinhardt tells us that Parkinson's Law dominates policy. That's the Law that claims, in effect, that doctors will exploit us if they have any spare time. So we restrict the doctor supply to prevent this, at the same time gratifying the desire of many less-than-compassionate people in power, that doctors stay quite rich. In an information age, however, there are many ways we could ensure a quality health product, whether through consumer advocates or overseas travel, or online resources or specialty clinics. We need to look into these, and we need to take steps to increase the doctor-supply, instead of just funneling money towards doctors and hospitals, while keeping the less wealthy and the elderly underserved and mistreated. - Rachel Sat, 13 Oct 2012 04:29:21 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/ryan-on-medicare-more-mind-reading-at-the-nyt#comment-19539 I believe I have heard Mr. Ryan and Governor Romney make this assertion about competition driving down costs of healthcare. So it is not really mind reading for the reporter to repeat a matter on which Mr. Ryan has made a public confession of faith. It is another question that this assertion, like an assertion by Mr. Ryan that ghosts actually exist, is actually true. In both cases, the "hand" and the "ghost" the magical power is invisible. I note also that Mr. Brooks constantly makes this assertion despite the libraries of contrary data. But such a policy would shred the New Deal/Great Society social insurance programs, guarantee huge new revenues to insusrance companies, increase the pay of insurance companies CEOs, and give the Master of the Universe more money to play with and channel into their own bank accounts. In other words all the people who invite Mr. Brooks over for cocktails and who pay him to give speeches at $75,000 a pop, all expenses paid at places like Aspen and Davos. Mr. Brooks is all upset with Mr. Biden trying to trigger a generational war. That is funny since Mr. Ryan is teh one who came up with the age 55 cut off for all the goodies. - sherparick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 06:37:26 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/ryan-on-medicare-more-mind-reading-at-the-nyt#comment-19517 [quote]"Mr. Ryan believes competition will drive down the cost of health care, keeping the voucher’s value up to date."[/quote] Given massive failure in private markets that prevents competition from reducing the cost of health on the insurance and provider side, the NYT could have said with as much credibility that Ryan believes competition will drive down the cost of sidewalks: By creating vouchers, walkers would have choices to walk on different sidewalks provided by the private sector that run parallel to original sidewalks. Never mind that the total cost of all sidewalks would explode upwards. The point is to have more choices at any cost. Freedom is not free and for Randian extremists like Ryan, it's so free it's not even available for many and results instead in a death panel effect of no choice at all. - Last Mover Fri, 12 Oct 2012 01:48:35 +0100