(Dave: delete the previous version of this comment)
Note: This comment is more clarification than opinion… We’ve talked about ways to fix the health care system before on this blog, so I don’t really want to spin my wheels on that again.
….
Health insurance reform.
The health insurance bill in the Senate is likely to help Big Pharma, not hurt it. How does regulating insurance costs stifle innovation?
It doesn’t.
The argument here are the proposed taxes as part of the Senate Bill, that were recently reduced.
Conservatives hate taxes, and also hate spending, especially on government programs. Democrats are trying to cut spending by having some of these taxes. They argue that medical device makers and the other sectors being taxed would gain new customers, so they should contribute via taxes.
Are they right? I don’t know, and if not, I don’t think we’ll really know until it’s too late.
The bottom line is that we can’t maintain the status quo just because we lead in innovation. The challenge is making things better while maintaining the level of innovation. We’ve talked about ideas to do that before on the blog, but only time will tell which ideas work, and which don’t.
Dave, I just want to say that while we disagree on a few things (ok, a lot of things), I really enjoy reading different perspectives on things. I hope that providing my perspective is beneficial and not viewed as an attack. I am, it seems, the only liberal here right now. Though, I also don’t like labels that much since I don’t align perfectly with the extreme left on every single issue (e.g. I would like to maintain a level of innovation in the health industry and I’m not convinced about taxing medical device makers). I also don’t think you align with the extreme right on every single issue (e.g. you seem to believe in a sustainable lifestyle and proper treatment of food/animals).
November 24th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
(Dave: delete the previous version of this comment)
Note: This comment is more clarification than opinion… We’ve talked about ways to fix the health care system before on this blog, so I don’t really want to spin my wheels on that again.
….
Health insurance reform.
The health insurance bill in the Senate is likely to help Big Pharma, not hurt it. How does regulating insurance costs stifle innovation?
It doesn’t.
The argument here are the proposed taxes as part of the Senate Bill, that were recently reduced.
Conservatives hate taxes, and also hate spending, especially on government programs. Democrats are trying to cut spending by having some of these taxes. They argue that medical device makers and the other sectors being taxed would gain new customers, so they should contribute via taxes.
Are they right? I don’t know, and if not, I don’t think we’ll really know until it’s too late.
The bottom line is that we can’t maintain the status quo just because we lead in innovation. The challenge is making things better while maintaining the level of innovation. We’ve talked about ideas to do that before on the blog, but only time will tell which ideas work, and which don’t.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Dave, I just want to say that while we disagree on a few things (ok, a lot of things), I really enjoy reading different perspectives on things. I hope that providing my perspective is beneficial and not viewed as an attack. I am, it seems, the only liberal here right now. Though, I also don’t like labels that much since I don’t align perfectly with the extreme left on every single issue (e.g. I would like to maintain a level of innovation in the health industry and I’m not convinced about taxing medical device makers). I also don’t think you align with the extreme right on every single issue (e.g. you seem to believe in a sustainable lifestyle and proper treatment of food/animals).
Thanks and have a good Thanksgiving!
November 25th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
@Andrew
Thank you and Thanksgiving to you too!