Healthcare Debate - Costs or Agenda?

In the rush to “solve the healthcare crisis” (as our esteemed President likes to put it) there have been many arguments put forth by members of both parties as how to “fix” the “crisis”. If the concern is so much about the affordability of healthcare, then why is the discussion been about political idealogy and not about getting to the root causes of the costs?

It is true that the costs of healthcare has significantly outpaced inflation in the last 25 years…but why? Is is due to the aging of America, the abuse of emergency room care, malpractice insurance costs, etc? The President can only seem to put the blame on insurance companies and their apparently evil desire to make a profit. From someone who doesn’t know the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet, that is a pretty bold statement! But what are the cost drivers?

In a company, if rising costs of doing business outpace the natural rate of inflation, best practices teach us to form project teams to perform deep analysis of why and where. Sometimes, the findings may lead to simple solutions (low-hanging fruit), while other findings lead to very complex solutions that require a careful and thoughtful approach that may lead to a change in strategy for the long-term. Whatever the case, the best decisions are made based objective data and not knee-jerk subjective “feelings”.

Unfortunately, I have not seen this best practice approach in any of the discussions. Therefore, in the absence of objective decision making, one can only assume that the debate is being driven by an agenda and fueled by subjective knee-jerk reactions. Unfortunately, unlike business, once a program is inacted in Washington, it never goes away no matter how ineffective it may be. With 16% of the Gross Domestic Product at stake, this “crisis” is simply too important to be rushed.

Any smart business would not make rash decisions with 16% of its production at stake and neither should our Government. Call your Congressman or Senator and urge them to take a rational approach and not be bullied into making a subjective decision that effects everyone’s lives by a President only seeking to capitalize on what’s left of his popularity. He promised Change that was not business as usual, its time to hold him to that promise.

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