8 Predictions

Megan McArdle has offered 8 predictions about the future of health care outcomes in the United States under the just passed "reforms".  She then offers a defense of those predictions that is based not on "who is the better pundit", but instead "if things don't change, then why are we spending $2,000 per household on it"?

If you don't think that any of the effects of this bill will be large enough to measure and hopefully, large enough to justify the price tag of this bill, then I have to ask two questions:

1)  Why the hell are we spending $200 billion a year, plus the mandated spending by individuals and employers on premiums, plus the new money the states will have to spend on Medicaid?

2)  Why on earth did you bring up all these apparently irrelevant statistics?

 Not unlike Megan, perhaps I am wrong about these "reforms".  But if I am going to be wrong, it better be based on some objective standard and not on some "but I feel like we should just all have health care" nonsense.  If I am not wrong, then the solution will not to be to throw more government money at the problem.  The solution will be throw less government money at it.

A....lot....less....