Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Kentucky ObamaCare staring at trees, misses forest

An extensive study released today by the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange inadvertently trips all over the simple truth about necessary reforms but fails to see recognize it.

The following passage from the report sums this problem up perfectly:

"The overall finding of the study is that the health care workforce issues uncovered through this report are, and will continue to be, present with or without Medicaid Expansion, KHBE, or other programs across the Commonwealth. Intervention is needed to curb the trending decline of health care workforce capacity in relation to rising population demand, and no single approach will be the panacea."


It comes as no shock to anyone that "Medicaid Expansion, KHBE or other programs" combined will have no positive impact on shortages of medical professionals in Kentucky. Far more likely, these artificial market manipulations will have a negative effect, and quite possibly a large one.

Most telling, of course, is the end of the passage stating "no single approach will be the panacea." Spoken like a government committee paid by the "approach" and paid for perpetuating problems rather than solving problems and working themselves out of their highly paid jobs.

The single approach Kentuckians are looking for -- and won't get until we demand it -- is getting government's hands out of the process completely and letting supply and demand forces work to correct the multiple market imbalances created by government regulation run amok in healthcare these last few decades.

You can read the whole report here.