As you know, I have profoundly conservative views on medical care. I think we need a universal sytem that covers all Americans but that it be extremely stingy in what it covers. Yes, people would die for lack of access to the most costly treatments but people die because of holes in the current system. what is really dumb is getting a huge bill for something that could have been prevented cheaply.
The point of health care reform is to keep from bnakrupting our country, states and communites.
Beyond that, people should be permitted to buy as much medical coverage as they'd like or to negotiate with their employer for such. It probably ought to be taxable with deductibility for some combined threshold of premium and expenses on schedule A but I wouldn't go down in flames defending that.
And like this is going to happen but the same shuold probably apply to the elderly- there are your death panels but the good news is that none of the solid citizens who are enraged a gubmint would have relatives or themselves be in a position where they didn't have expanded coverage so it would only happen to society's moochers.
First, the medical and pharma industries would have the volk out marching in a matter of days about socialism, death panels etc.
Second, there would be a lot of financial dislocation from the malinvestment that has gone into medical capacity with the expectation that the government will continue to direct resources into the medical/pharm complex.
