I attended the popular (and always well done) Policy and a Pint “Health Care Handcuffs” event last Tuesday. However, I had the same feeling of unease that I usually do at events like this. Something’s missing…what is it?
It seems that whenever “experts” get together to talk about issues, no matter what the issue or how sociable the expert, there’s this something more that people are looking for. The experts may have the technically correct answers, but they don’t seem to have the societally correct ones…and this is what we’re looking for. Fundamentally, I think people want the right thing to be done.
For example, when asked why health care costs were increasing so much, one of the presenters said that that’s what wealthy societies spend their money on. Health care has replaced other sectors such as transportation for its role in driving the economy. In fact (he said)…health care might beome 25% , maybe even 50% of our economic output, and would that be a bad thing?
I know that people around me at the event were thinking this: Bad for whom? I know this because they chucked when the speaker made his point. It might be a great thing for the economy, but for people who have trouble affording health care, costs that rise at twice the rate of inflation is not good news under any circumstance.
People have a sense that the common good is not being served. So when they hear the usual technical or theoretical arguments, their natural response, is “But wait a minute!” A recent New York Times survey fund that two-thirds of Americans favor providing health care for the uninsured over lowering costs for everybody. 60% are willing to pay more in taxes for everbody to have access to insurance, and 49% are willing to pay $500 or more.
How do we refocus on the end goal– on what needs to happen– and away from all the reasons we’re told it can’t?
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