A Common Sense Financial Case for Medical Reform
If there should be one lasting message that we should learn from the current economic mess , let it be that the medical care industry in the United States is not well . Three of the most iconic corporations in our history, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, are on the verge of liquidation not because of stock market dirty tricks but rather because they can’t remain in business while meeting their responsibilities towards their employees’ health insurance obligations .
In fact, for every vehicle that GM builds, more than $2000 goes straight to the endowment that the automakers have set up to deal with the ever-expanding expenses of providing health care to their workers , past and present . And you probably thought it was all about subprime loans .
As I type this, at the end of 2008 , the medical care industry is the single biggest industry in our country’s economy, as measured as a percentage of the GNP , or Gross National Product ; in fact, health care represents roughly 16% of our GDP, more than defense , more than automotive, more than IT , more than any other industry you can think of. And it’s not close.
Any plan that will alter health care must make an allowance for the development of new industry jobs, which will have an impact on the entire economy, as more people who find themselves unemployed or under-employed at the moment can be retrained to work the good, lucrative medical care jobs of the future ; such action would have long-lasting impact not just on the broad economy and the individual men and women who will take on those lucrative positions , but also on the treasury and our country’s balance sheet , as those new jobs will create tax revenue that will help lower our astonishing deficit and pay down the national debt.
And this is where universal medical coverage comes into play . When you realize that over 46 million Americans lack health insurance of any kind today, it is easy to see that by bringing these folks into the fold will only grow the scope of the medical care industry, an industry which, as I pointed out earlier, is almost exclusively domestic. By creating a way for these millions of people to pay for their own medical coverage , we can help create those better paying positions , while improving the quality of life of those who are uninsured , and eliminating the wasteful costs associated with caring for the sick uninsured by hospital emergency departments (the doctors of last resort for millions) and other wastefulness.
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Jonathan Krakowski, the author, writes weekly for Auto Insurance In-Depth and Life Insurance In-Depth.
