Update: McCain Selects Gov. Sarah Palin as Running Mate

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by saden1

Would it be a fair assessment to say your hospitals and the current health care system at large is failing as a business model and it/they can't seem to coupe with external pressures?

No it wouldn't be fair to say that at all.

Most hospitals are staying open and competitive within the United States. How they cope with "external pressures" (aka growing costs of drugs and malpractice) is by demanding higher reimbursement rates from the insurance companies.

The insurance companies then are forced to pass that cost along to the patients in the form of higher insurance rates. The higher the rates go, the fewer patients can afford health insurance.

Is that good? Not at all. But someone will have to explain to me how using taxpayer money to provide coverage for all Americans will slow the growth of those "external pressures" - drug costs and malpractice expenses.

Just because you get all Americans covered with health insurance doesn't mean the underlying cost of administering healthcare will be affected.