Why should anyone be in favor of the new Republican health care proposal? by George Chanos

Why should anyone be in favor of the new Republican health care proposal?

George Chanos 

Is it something new and innovative? Does it eliminate excess costs? Does it streamline the drug approval processes? Does it improve and expand the healthcare delivery system? Was it developed without industry lobbyists having undue influence? Does it control existing costs and future cost increases? Does it reduce the cost of prescription drugs? Does it solve any of our major health care problems? No!

It's the same bloated, special interest driven, inadequate legislation, that government always creates? Only here, it eliminates mandatory participation - great!

While I support that important change, I also recognize, that as a consequence, it will cover less people. And personally, I don't support that. I don't support it from a philosophical, or a practical perspective.

Why should anyone support it? Is it because of our Republican mind set, that we're not our brothers keeper? Is that justification - the Republican answer?

That's the same old dogma that we have clung to for decades? Does anyone believe that's even sound reasoning anymore? Or is it just wishful thinking?

It's a wonderfully attractive notion. I'm sure we all wish it were true. Unfortunately, it's simply not true. It's a fantasy. It doesn't work.

Like it or not, we are our brothers keepers - to some degree. And we need to accept it, so we can deal with it - intelligently.

Whether we always were our brothers keepers, or we became that way, due to our failed policies of the past, is a moot point. At this point, there's no going back. People need help and we can either provide that help, or suffer the consequences.

And the life changing consequences of inaction, will vastly exceed the costs of intelligent action.

Look around. 43% of U.S. households are fatherless. The U.S. has 17.5 million fatherless kids. Millions are uneducated, untrained, unemployed and as a consequence, society is growing increasingly unsafe.

Technology is eliminating jobs in virtually every area of human activity. Things are only going to get worse. Millions more will be displaced - annually.

We are in the midst of a technological revolution, greater than the industrial revolution, with no training, yet available for the transition. Millions of jobs will be lost - regardless of how many Trump tries to bring back.

Does anyone really think that hiding behind old dogma, like "I'm not my brothers keeper", or "just say no", provides a viable direction for the country, moving forward? I don't.

We are so far past that, it's no longer even worth discussing. That train has long ago left the station.

Albert Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

There is nothing new and innovative about this Republican proposal. At best, it's an exercise in subtraction.

We need to rethink our entire approach, not just to healthcare, but to everything.

This is a new world and dramatic changes are upon us. Artificial intelligence, massive changes in data aggregation and computing power, 3D printing, cloud computing, research in genomics, all of these things promise radical and imminent change.

The only thing that's not changing, is the efficiency of government.

We need a system that is highly efficient and cost effective. We need a system that controls costs and streamlines our drug testing and approval processes. We need a system that provides basic free health care to all Americans. A single payer system that eliminates 30% of health care costs, simply by eliminating the administrative overhead of health insurance companies.

We need to rethink our overall approach toward the role of government, and engineer a society that incorporates the best of capitalism, while addressing the social costs of capitalism.

A system that maintains the social equilibrium, essential to our continued growth, safety and mutual prosperity.

That is not Obamacare, and that is not the half baked Republican proposal.

Why should anyone like it?