Health Care Flowchart

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/nick-beaudrot-explains-it-all/?emc=eta1

Our 7/31 post was intended as a summary of both Peggy Noonan's reaction to President Obabma's rather uninspired press conference on health care as well as Professor Uwe Reinhardt's description of our perpetual national conversation over the last 30 years on that same subject.

Krugman's post today on a new flowchart summarizing potential changes in health care and the groups effected is a breath of fresh air. Take a look at the initial flowchart and then click on the header above it for more current versions and descriptors.

Aside from the politics of possible health care improvements, President Obama has suffered from the very "complexity" of potential changes and I do not think his attitude of "throwing it in the moat to see if it floats" (an old advertising axiom) works when congress has difficulty agreeing on what time it is. As Krugman has said, we will probably get some form of health care improvement by the end of the year.

I'm hopeful that, whatever the new health care program(s) we get, we will see an end to denial of coverage because of "pre-existing conditions" and removal of insurance coverage from individuals because they "cost too much". Some things are basic and are not "complicated". Profit margins will still be there for the insurance companies.