Is it just me, or does the position of the current administration on health care seem inconsistent with their liberal ideals?
One of the core tenants of the liberal platform is the redistribution of wealth. The basic idea here is that the wealthy should shoulder the burden of pretty much everything, because they can give more without feeling it as much as poorer people. Then why do they have a problem with the way things are working here in the United States?
Basically, the way the system works, is that the medical community extract value any way they can, not only to recoup costs but to earn profits. However, not all countries can afford their products on a level playing field, but it would be fairly heartless to deny the third world treatment. So, companies offers medication, and procedures to poorer countries and they make it up by charging richer countries more.
The United States is, for the moment, the richest country in the world, therefore it follows that we would have to pay the bulk in this system. The system has been getting progressively worse, as other rich countries have been exerting upward pressure on the system, so we see health care systems in the UK, France, Canada that are using their bargaining power to bring down their costs, this puts more pressure on the United States, as we have to pay a larger share of the pie.
Granted, this is an over simplification of the health care system, as there are many other factors that contribute to high costs in the United States. It is just this one issue that consistently acts as a driving force, and I have never once heard a politician talk about how great is it that we pay the lions share for poor countries can receive much needed medical attention.
One of the core tenets of all the health reform plans is bring down the costs of domestic medical treatment. This would put downward pressure on the system, and would force providers to drive up costs in other markets. This would likely annoy the allies of the United States, as we would make their health care more expensive, and it would likely costs many lives in the third world as fewer people would be able to afford treatment.
Good times.