Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Health Care Crisis Gets Some Press
The health care crisis got some national publicity Wednesday as it was the issue that got the most play when the Big Three auto makers met with President Bush. The Big Three pay more in health care costs per car than for steel. GM says its health-care cost for each GM vehicle built is $1,525, compared with $400 for Toyota, the Kansas City Star reports.
Now I haven't seen health care mentioned at all during the analysis of the recent mid-term elections nor is it among objectives mentioned by either party. It looks like another two years of no solutions. But the auto execs talk about the issue shows it's probably the one issue those of us in the center may rally around to get some stuff done. Want proof this is a bubbling under issue? In a poll conducted by Pace University this week, 48 per cent of respondents favoured a single-payer national health-care plan, essentially an endorsement of the Canadian system. Just 35 per cent endorsed a Massachusetts-style system, the Globe and Mail reports. Wow, that's much higher than I would have thought. Single payer is portrayed as the boogyman in the health care debate. But people may be so fed up with rising costs they may want any change.
The only hope to move this issue forward may be if Mitt Romney's healthcare plan in Mass. rises to the level of the national debate in the presidential primaries next year.
Now I haven't seen health care mentioned at all during the analysis of the recent mid-term elections nor is it among objectives mentioned by either party. It looks like another two years of no solutions. But the auto execs talk about the issue shows it's probably the one issue those of us in the center may rally around to get some stuff done. Want proof this is a bubbling under issue? In a poll conducted by Pace University this week, 48 per cent of respondents favoured a single-payer national health-care plan, essentially an endorsement of the Canadian system. Just 35 per cent endorsed a Massachusetts-style system, the Globe and Mail reports. Wow, that's much higher than I would have thought. Single payer is portrayed as the boogyman in the health care debate. But people may be so fed up with rising costs they may want any change.
The only hope to move this issue forward may be if Mitt Romney's healthcare plan in Mass. rises to the level of the national debate in the presidential primaries next year.
# posted by Pcentrist @ 8:30 AM 
