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 Morgan Stanley taps China fund for 5 billions US$. |
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老哥 -- 安的鲁8 - (44 Byte) 2007-12-20 周四, 05:24 (516 reads) |
ceo/cfo
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作者：ceo/cfo 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
本公司的健康保险又涨了！有时真想 give up 了
Rivals vie to operate on costly healthcare
By Edward Luce
Published: December 19 2007 19:56 | Last updated: December 19 2007
Attempts have been made before to reform the increasingly expensive US healthcare system. The previous occasion was in 1993, when the 1,342-page reform plan of Hillary Clinton, who was then first lady, was a spectacular flop.
The 2008 election is shaping up to be another such crossroads for a healthcare system that is significantly costlier than it was when congress found “Hillarycare” wanting.
But the nature of the debate has altered radically in the past few years. While most of the presidential challengers – and, particularly, the Democrats – are focusing on extending coverage to America’s 47m uninsured, reform is increasingly framed as an economic as well as a moral imperative.
The US now spends 17 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare – roughly double the average for wealthy countries. Much of this burden falls on employers, who are pointing with increasing frenzy to the disadvantage of competing with countries that fund their healthcare through tax revenues. Contributions to employee healthcare premiums add $1,500 (€1,046, £750) to each car that General Motors produces. Starbucks pays more in healthcare than it does for coffee beans.
The second big shift is the focus on affordability for the large majority of Americans who do have health insurance. Healthcare inflation regularly outstrips general inflation and premiums have almost doubled since 2000. Half of all US families pay a quarter of their income on health insurance. And half of all personal bankruptcies are due to a medical crisis.
Finally, politics has caught up with preventive medicine. Three-quarters of the national health bill is spent on treating people with chronic diseases, particularly ones relating to obesity, such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
Led by Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who has lost 110lb (50kg), candidates from both parties are talking about prevention as the best way to reduce costs. “Focusing on prevention rather than systems of financing is the best way to build a bipartisan consensus for reform,” said Ken Thorpe, chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, a diverse group that includes the National Association of Manufacturers and the Service Employees’ International Union.
“It’s also the best way to reduce costs.”
That is the extent of bipartisanship. The three leading Democratic candidates – Mrs Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards – all favour creating a universal healthcare system, giving subsidies to the uninsured so they can afford to sign up.
All would require insurance companies to accept any applicant, regardless of their health risks. All would provide tax breaks so that small businesses could afford to provide coverage to employees. The three plans would cost between $60bn and $120bn a year – partly paid for by rescinding President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest.
Of the three, Mrs Clinton, who admits she “bears the scars” of her 1993 attempt, places most emphasis on choice. She is at pains to point out that her plan would not create a new federal bureaucracy. The only serious difference between candidates is that Mr Obama’s plan omits the “individual mandate” that would compel the uninsured to take out coverage, much as drivers are required to have car insurance.
The Republicans are much lighter on detail. Almost all the party’s leading presidential challengers model their proposals on Mr Bush’s health savings accounts, which offer tax incentives for individuals to set up portable health insurance.
They argue that greater competition will drive down costs, much as the Democrats argue that bringing the uninsured into the net will reduce costs by pooling risk more efficiently.
Whichever Republican becomes the nominee will probably have to develop a more comprehensive plan, taking into account the healthcare anxieties of the Middle American swing states. Healthcare now ranks second or third among voters as an issue of concern.
作者：ceo/cfo 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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