feeling european...

So I don't know how most people get the news - on the internet, reading a real newspaper, watching TV news, via twitter, etc - but I enjoy the feeling of sitting at a table with a cup of coffee and reading a real newspaper. With that said, I usually have quite a stack of newspapers to get through, and I'm usually reading news that is several days to a week old. Interestingly, I recently read that an Amish newspaper called "The Budget" has been doing quite well despite the recession because Amish folks hold the same value of not needing the most up-to-the-minute news and reading the paper version.

Anyway, the main reason for my post tonight is to rant yet again against "stupid" politics. Healthcare reform. I'm for "universal" healthcare in the sense that I do want to have the healthcare industry regulated and accessible to all people (reduced medical costs, reduced premiums, limits on out of pocket expenses, no denying or dropping coverage because of a health condition).

I just read an article from last week's Thursday LA Times that talks about how Congress isn't willing to consider limiting premiums because that "would be meddling too much in the private sector." That's upsetting, because Congress is considering legislation that will require everyone to have insurance and pay those increasing premiums... which won't solve anything because the difference between what the poor can afford and what industry is charging in premiums will just come from tax payer funded subsidies.

while states have long supervised what companies charge for mandated automobile and homeowners insurance, the idea has been largely banished from the healthcare debate.

Nor are lawmakers seriously considering any proposals to regulate what doctors, hospitals, drug makers and other healthcare providers charge -- a strategy used by several European countries to control healthcare spending.

In those systems -- some of which, like the United States, feature a blend of private insurers and government programs -- the government sets prices that providers charge to everyone.

I suppose it'd only be fair at this point to add that I'm a dual citizen of the US and Sweden. So I do have a certain bias toward the more socialist model...