health care X-PRIZE; opinion
an X-Prize to solve the health care system in America is under development.
So, those of you who think you know the answers, step up to the plate. Get your solutions ready. They haven't finished developing the prize or how the competition will work, yet. But they will.
Right now, they're in the "prize development" stage. I'm not entirely sure how all that works. However, I do know that the X-Prizes are intended to stimulate investment in the solutions provided.
What should the X-Prize address?
Let me present an opinion (my opinion, and this is less organized than I'd like):
Government-sponsored health care will not be sustainable, for the same reason that continuing welfare benefits are not sustainable. Where there is no incentive to be healthy, or to cease unhealthy behaviors, health care costs will naturally rise. Thus, government expenditures for health care will rise astronomically, and many will find this unacceptable. We will see a repeat of the Welfare Crisis, and this time with more extreme solutions (because the governmental opponents are extreme, right now and in the foreseeable future).
Where there is no true competition, health care costs will rise. And, as far as I know, there is no city or state in the United States where there is true competition in the health care market.
Licensing of doctors is necessary, but licensing produces a monopoly. What can be done to provide true competition in the health marketplace, while reducing the risk to the patient?
How can we encourage healthy behaviors? I really applaud Kaiser Permanente's billboards, "Thrive!" Yet, how effective are they? How many people change their behavior due to those signs?
How can we discourage unhealthy behaviors? I know a number of people who smoke. They will keep smoking as long as they can afford to buy cigarettes. They will buy cigarettes before they buy food. They are truly addicted, and they do not care.
The risks of smoking are well-known. Insurance companies provide discounts for non-smokers. There are solid financially-based reasons for that.
The risks of other behaviors are also well-known. For example, promiscuous sexual activity (regardless of gender issues) is implicated in the spread of AIDS and other sexual diseases. AIDS is an expensive disease to treat; should promiscuity be considered a risk factor, and insurance premiums increased because of it? What if the insurance customer lies? How can you tell?
While many people consider the health insurance issue to be a non-issue and easily-solved, there are many people who believe that everyone should be covered by health insurance. I'm not so sure that's a good idea; it's kind of like the bailout/sellout package of recent weeks. Why should we reward risky behavior? Why should we reward stupidity? Why should we reward what will not contribute to America's future?
Deliberately engaging in behavior that risks one's health is a deliberate devaluation of one's worth. Most people know that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. They don't know that any form of tobacco use increases the risk of many cancers. Most people don't understand what happens to the lungs in lung cancer. They don't understand the effects of their own behaviors on their own futures.
Tell someone that that cigarette increased his chance of lung cancer, and he'll laugh at you. Tell him it reduces his sperm count (which it does!), or reduce his ability to sustain sexual activity (which it can), and he might pay attention. Or not.
The problem of health in America to me is not primarily a matter of health insurance, but more a matter of health education. Don't get me wrong - I'd like health insurance for myself. I'd also like a lot of other things.
There are other issues. The drug companies' profits are insanely high. I don't mind if they profit - but I'd like them to profit a little less, and stop spending their money on lobbying the FDA.
Drugs approved for use in other countries are often unlawful to use here. In some cases this is good; in other cases, this is bad.
There are problems with health care in America, and most of them do not stem from the lack of availability of health insurance. That's just the most easily-recognized symptom. And, plastering over the symptom will not fix the problems.
So, those of you who think you know the answers, step up to the plate. Get your solutions ready. They haven't finished developing the prize or how the competition will work, yet. But they will.
Right now, they're in the "prize development" stage. I'm not entirely sure how all that works. However, I do know that the X-Prizes are intended to stimulate investment in the solutions provided.
What should the X-Prize address?
Let me present an opinion (my opinion, and this is less organized than I'd like):
Government-sponsored health care will not be sustainable, for the same reason that continuing welfare benefits are not sustainable. Where there is no incentive to be healthy, or to cease unhealthy behaviors, health care costs will naturally rise. Thus, government expenditures for health care will rise astronomically, and many will find this unacceptable. We will see a repeat of the Welfare Crisis, and this time with more extreme solutions (because the governmental opponents are extreme, right now and in the foreseeable future).
Where there is no true competition, health care costs will rise. And, as far as I know, there is no city or state in the United States where there is true competition in the health care market.
Licensing of doctors is necessary, but licensing produces a monopoly. What can be done to provide true competition in the health marketplace, while reducing the risk to the patient?
How can we encourage healthy behaviors? I really applaud Kaiser Permanente's billboards, "Thrive!" Yet, how effective are they? How many people change their behavior due to those signs?
How can we discourage unhealthy behaviors? I know a number of people who smoke. They will keep smoking as long as they can afford to buy cigarettes. They will buy cigarettes before they buy food. They are truly addicted, and they do not care.
The risks of smoking are well-known. Insurance companies provide discounts for non-smokers. There are solid financially-based reasons for that.
The risks of other behaviors are also well-known. For example, promiscuous sexual activity (regardless of gender issues) is implicated in the spread of AIDS and other sexual diseases. AIDS is an expensive disease to treat; should promiscuity be considered a risk factor, and insurance premiums increased because of it? What if the insurance customer lies? How can you tell?
While many people consider the health insurance issue to be a non-issue and easily-solved, there are many people who believe that everyone should be covered by health insurance. I'm not so sure that's a good idea; it's kind of like the bailout/sellout package of recent weeks. Why should we reward risky behavior? Why should we reward stupidity? Why should we reward what will not contribute to America's future?
Deliberately engaging in behavior that risks one's health is a deliberate devaluation of one's worth. Most people know that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. They don't know that any form of tobacco use increases the risk of many cancers. Most people don't understand what happens to the lungs in lung cancer. They don't understand the effects of their own behaviors on their own futures.
Tell someone that that cigarette increased his chance of lung cancer, and he'll laugh at you. Tell him it reduces his sperm count (which it does!), or reduce his ability to sustain sexual activity (which it can), and he might pay attention. Or not.
The problem of health in America to me is not primarily a matter of health insurance, but more a matter of health education. Don't get me wrong - I'd like health insurance for myself. I'd also like a lot of other things.
There are other issues. The drug companies' profits are insanely high. I don't mind if they profit - but I'd like them to profit a little less, and stop spending their money on lobbying the FDA.
Drugs approved for use in other countries are often unlawful to use here. In some cases this is good; in other cases, this is bad.
There are problems with health care in America, and most of them do not stem from the lack of availability of health insurance. That's just the most easily-recognized symptom. And, plastering over the symptom will not fix the problems.