Critics of the American health care system have propagated a number of myths to justify greater government control over our health care system. This backgrounder identifies 10 of the most common myths and exposes the fictions that underlie each.
Federal budget experts across the political spectrum agree that the Medicare program is having a financial crisis. Without fundamental change, the future looks bleak. Medicare will go bankrupt by 2002. The necessary budget savings can be achieved while providing substantial benefits to the elderly by giving them greater control over Medicare funds, and their own health care.
ERISA has helped us move toward a national goal: the provision of affordable health insurance. It must remain intact – or be expanded so that even smaller employers can benefit. ERISA is the closest political compromise to having a "national" health plan without national control.
Employers around the country are now combining Medical Savings Accounts and managed care. Medical Savings Accounts are inconsistent with the traditional philosophy of HMOs. But efforts to make medicine cost-effective are natural allies of Medical Savings Accounts.