In AP Micro we talked about how something like Medicare For All could actually benefit the economy, as the money business's have to spend on employee health insurance would instead go into production and other industry ends. In America, the main cause of bankruptcy is people not being able to pay their medical bills. Both ethically and economically the concept of Medicare For All makes a lot of sense to me. It's part of the reason Bernie is so popular, 70% of Americans support Medicare For All (though not everyone is a fan of his version of it) and I believe health care will be a very important issue in the Democratic Primaries.
That said, what we learned about the Iron Triangle changed my perspective somewhat. Today in class, we learned that just because a bill or idea is popular doesn't mean it's going to passed. Once a bill makes it through the house it has to pass in the Senate, where it usually dies at the hands of Mitch McConnell. The Iron Triangle means that it would be near impossible to get around Big Pharma's influence, especially with the 'Grim Reaper' as senate majority leader. This made me consider if it even matters if a candidate is for Medicare For All. Even if Bernie (or Warren/Yang etc) actually won, they would likely not be able to pass it. In fact, they would likely fail to pass the majority of their progressive policies.
This makes me very worried for the future. It seems a progressive leader would not have as much an impact on the situation as I previously thought. Insulin prices will likely continue to increase (since price ceilings are a gateway for socialism, obviously) and eventually only the wealthy will be able to afford what many of us need to survive.
I'll admit I don't know as much about Medicare For All as I'd like, but from what I've heard it seems very promising. Actually, I've also heard it's the worst thing that could ever happen to our democracy. It seems to me that it would finally put us on the level of other developed countries in terms of health care. I wonder what benefits pharmaceutical companies gain from the current system that causes this disparity.
ReplyDeleteEven if Medicare For All does not pass, it is important to put at least some limit on medicine. Recently, a one-dosage new drug has been approved for $2.1 million dollars for one dose (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/05/24/zolgensma-2-1-million-drug-nations-most-expensive/1223666001/). While strict limitations may be hard because companies need to make revenue off of their drugs to continue research, this is an excessive amount of money that the ast majority of people cannot pay. Drug price regulations may not be strictly regulated but there is definetly the need to at least some kind of regulation.
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