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The Ben and Joel Podcast: Can we get a second opinion on that?

Mon, 09/14/2009 - 15:10 — Ben

Our last discussion about health care, fascinating though it was, lacked a certain level of expertise on the subject. In this episode, Ben is joined by David Burkhart, who when he isn't lurking in the shadows of Infinite Monkeys is consulting with hospitals on how to navigate the ins-and-outs of bureaucracy while continuing to turn a profit.

Also joining us is the Heartland Institute's Jim Lakely, a.k.a. Dr. Zaius at Infinite Monkeys. Joel sat this one out.

(By the way, we recorded this one a couple of weeks ago -- and before President Obama's address to the joint session of Congress. But it still holds up!)

Among the questions we discuss:

• Can Medicare be fixed? If not, how does the government expect to fix the whole health care system?
• Which typeface is better for treating a sick person? Times New Roman or Helvetica?
• Are medical savings accounts worthwhile?
• Is health care reform akin to intelligence reform?
• Should presidents even bother with sweeping reforms during their first year in office?
• Is Obama trying to take over the Internet? Or is the real threat that the Internet will become as efficient as the Department of Homeland Security?

Music heard in this podcast:

• "Blast Off" - The Monks
• "Complication" - The Monks
• "Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy" - The Monks
• "Monk Time" - The Monks
• "He Went Down to the Sea" - The Monks
• "Oh How To Do Now" - The Monks
• "Treat Me Like Your Mother" - Dead Weather

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Wed, 09/16/2009 - 12:45 — j.d. (not verified)

Damn it...

... I'm trying to study, people.

1. No. Medicare is doomed, as is anything that attempts to emulate it. The American Academy of Actuaries estimates that the magic number to ensure our children and grandchildren get Medicare, much less universal single-payer health care, is $37 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That's present value of liabilities minus present value of revenues, which means that the $37 trillion is, as of today, owed money. That means that the economy is going to come up with an extra half-trillion dollars every year for the next 75, above and beyond expected production, to fully fund it. That's just for Medicare. It's why I cannot and do not take any single-payer advocate seriously. They should all be slapped with junior high math books.

2. Skipped.

3. Maybe partially. As I have written, they are not a universal answer. But I'm for anything that doesn't separate people totally from the use of something and its cost.

4. No. The intelligence apparatuses are answerable to the President. Reform can be theoretically accomplished with the now-customary lofty words and a smile. Unless one makes every hospital CEO, every "private" practice, etc. the same, then the two are not equivalent.

By the way, ask a teacher how much increased federalization has helped him or her.

5. Maybe. Although I think the most sweeping reform of all would be to get one's government out of the way. I think I was born 100 years too late...

6. Skipped.