The Presidential Debate: Health Care

While watching the presidential debate tonight, some comments by Presdient Bush on health care issues were reminiscent of topics discussed in class earlier this year. President Bush stated that the health care industry is behind in it's technology which is part of the cause of such high health care costs. If the United States were to introduce faster technology, there could be a 20% cut in the costs of health care. The introduction of increased technology reminded me of the Production Possibilities Curve. Increased technology would shift the curve outward and provide more health care resources for the United States.
A more controversial issue with health care is whether the government should become involved in providing health care for all citizens. I remember we discussed this in class, also. Government controls health care in many countries, such as Canada, however, the health care system is poorly run and minor operations have long waiting lists. Despite the advantage of everyone being provided with health care, government intervention in this area causes more problems and disrupts the economy more than helping it. The idea of government intervention has also come into play in our discussion of taxes, showing that when the government intervenes, the social welfare decreases. On the topic of health care, I think President Bush made a strong statement in the debate saying that health care decisions should be made by doctors and patients not government officials.

http://www.nationalcenter.org/WCT092404CanadianHealth.html