via Op-Ed Contributor – Medicine for the Job Market – NYTimes.com.
Published: December 4, 2008
A CENTRAL feature of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was an aggressive plan to expand health insurance coverage by subsidizing low-income Americans and preventing discrimination against the ill.
Given the present need to address the economic crisis, many people say the government cannot afford a big investment in health care, that these plans are going nowhere fast. But this represents a false choice, because health care reform is good for our economy.
Subsidized Health Care a Boon, not Bust
Any opportunity to relieve the under-insured of the costs of medical insurance will free up consumer spending. On top of that, providing the funds to subsidize the purchase of health insurance will increase revenue for insurance and health care, two huge industries. The more we invest in universal health care, the more we boost our economy.
The chorus from the right-wing against any universal plan is unfounded because of the increase in spending toward actual medical care, more sales for pharmacuedacals, and and increase in sales for insurance companies. This is a win-win.
Jonathan Gruber is a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a board member of the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority.
Follow me on Twitter!
