tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283694207541334416.post4559391442952781315..comments2022-08-23T07:34:49.231-05:00Comments on BLUEKNOWSER: Health Care Costs... can we control them?blueknowserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03990954476515135035noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283694207541334416.post-73113626837184638192008-01-05T13:41:00.000-06:002008-01-05T13:41:00.000-06:00I want to respond to the three comments here above...I want to respond to the three comments here above... This issue of health care in Nova Scotia is a critical one. We are not being strategic in our approach by the government... incremental change will not fix it anymore than a band aid on a broken bone. It is not a matter of lowering costs... complete change in the approach to care will be necessary... we do not have enough disposable government budget available to continue on the road we are today. None of the political parties have a real strategic approach to health care. This has to change!blueknowserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03990954476515135035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283694207541334416.post-33840006946457235682008-01-03T17:57:00.000-06:002008-01-03T17:57:00.000-06:00Bruce,The issues you describe are well known, but ...Bruce,<BR/><BR/>The issues you describe are well known, but remain unchecked after years and years. It seems that too many have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Real change will only occur when incentives change. That's my two american cents.<BR/><BR/>BTW - my sales territory covers the Western US and Canada. For the past 3 years I have wandered back and forth across the border with my bag of wares. It has been quite an education, learning to pitch new technology to the socializers of the north AND the enterprizers of the south! I have learned a lot.<BR/><BR/>RexAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283694207541334416.post-68974826265134401222008-01-02T15:42:00.000-06:002008-01-02T15:42:00.000-06:00Talk about thought provoking: a retired politician...Talk about thought provoking: a retired politician during a guest lecture stated that "Not only do we need more baby cribs, we need more coffins as well".<BR/><BR/>There is more than meets the eye: This is an abstract of a 2006 paper from Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts on Smoking: Taxing Health and Social Security. "While the health risks associated with smoking are well known, the impact on income distributions is not. This paper extends the literature by examining the distributional effects of a behavioral choice, in this case smoking, on net marginal Social Security tax rates (NMSSTR). The results show that smokers, as a result of shorter life expectancies, incur a higher NMSSTR than nonsmokers. In addition, as low-earnings workers have a higher smoking prevalence than high-earnings workers, smoking works to widen the income distribution. This higher tax rate could have implications for both labor supply behavior and Social Security system funding.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2283694207541334416.post-26300435182192679772008-01-02T13:59:00.000-06:002008-01-02T13:59:00.000-06:00Hi Bruce,Very thought provoking. As I read the blo...Hi Bruce,<BR/><BR/>Very thought provoking. As I read the blog I considered a couple of things: <BR/>1. Would society support actions in this area?<BR/>2. What are the barriers to getting desired results?<BR/><BR/>In terms of prolonging death I agree that considerable costs could be saved by taking a different approach. That said, families and society in general would likely never support any decision, no matter how reasonable, if it meant a loved one were denied any sort of treatment that could keep them around for a little longer. Death brings out a person's selfish side. They want to hold onto that person just alittle longer for their own personal reasons. They ask the person to bear the pain in order to avoid dealing with their loss. That is a tough one to overcome.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, tackling child obesity should be met with real support. So should a ban on smoking. So what are the barriers to achieving both? If we can identify barriers we can plan ways around or through them.<BR/><BR/>PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com