BCT Editorial – 6/26/08

This page was last updated on June 28, 2008.

Collapse; Editorial; Beaver County Times; June 26, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Health-care costs continue to increase at a rate that cannot be sustained.

“The Associated Press reported that a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers [sic] predicts that medical costs will increase 9.9 percent in 2008. That’s more than double the annual inflation rate.

“It won’t be any better in 2009. The study predicted costs will increase an additional 9.6 percent in that year.

“The main culprits are a hospital building boom and cost-shifting from the uninsured, Medicare and Medicaid to private insurers.”

[RWC] A “hospital building boom” isn’t exactly the way the PWC worded it. According to the PWC website, “The healthcare industry is in an era of booming construction to replace plants and adjust to consumer demands, such as a preference for private hospital rooms and a move to outpatient venues.”

Note that government interference in the healthcare market isn’t one of the “main culprits.”

“In the second example, the federal government underfunds these programs and the number of people with private insurance continues to decrease.”

[RWC] Here’s what the report says but the editorial dances around. The private sector is subsidizing the uninsured and those allegedly covered by government programs like Medicaid, Medicare, et cetera.

“Given the political and ideological gridlock in Washington, D.C., nothing short of a miracle can prevent the current system from collapsing.”

[RWC] Have you noticed editorials like this rarely provide a proposed solution?