Leonhardt on market forces in the health care industry

David Leonhardt writes about how Congress is helping the continuing high costs of the health care industry. He argues that by not allowing the health care equipment prices to be set by market forces, the government is supporting artificially inflated prices. The effect of this subsidy is a bloated producer surplus which obviously ends up hurting the little people.

On the power of lobbying and money in Washington politics impacts this issue:
This little fight deserves more attention than it's been getting for two reasons. One, it's a great example of how a small group of constituents can potentially beat back a policy that's clearly in the public interest but has no similarly committed group of supporters. And, two, it shows just how difficult health care reform is going to be.

In the abstract, fixing the health care system sounds perfectly unobjectionable: it's about reducing costs (and then being able to cover the uninsured) by getting rid of inefficiency and waste. In reality, though, almost every bit of waste benefits someone.

Overall, I found this to be an intelligent article which looks to shed some light on how our elected officials are not always looking out for our best interests. Our entire health care system is undeniably flawed and in no way could be described as working to ensure the health and well-being of all American citizens. As he points out, there are more (and more powerful) people whose jobs are focused on maintaining the status quo in this industry than their are people who are working to fix this debacle. After watching a movie like SICKO (I know, I know its Michael Moore, but still) and thinking about all the failures in the system, it is so frustrating to think about how something that could do so much good is letting so many people down everyday.