Reason: How to reform the system without killing it
posted at 9:30 am on March 11, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Virginia Postrel’s life has put her in position to experience the issues of the American health-care system in a very personal manner. She donated a kidney to a friend, only to discover a year later that she had a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. In a lengthy but worthwhile interview with Reason TV, Postrel discusses the use of the expensive but effective drug Herceptin in the US — and also in New Zealand, where politics blocked it from being covered by the single-payer system in that country. Postrel discusses the market-based reforms that work as well as the reasons they meet resistance with Ted Balaker:
Former Reason magazine Editor in Chief Virginia Postrel has seen the strengths and the shortcomings of the American health care system both as a kidney donor and a breast cancer survivor.
She argues that individuals should be free to sell their organs, and that encouraging organ markets may be the best way to save the lives of the more than 100,000 Americans currently awaiting transplants.
A 2009 article Postrel wrote for the Atlantic Monthly highlights her experience with the ultra-expensive wonder drug, Herceptin, and the perils of centrally controlling health care costs.
On the point of market-based incentives for organ donation, I wrote about that myself last year, based on my family’s experiences through three kidney transplants, the last two of which were unrelated live donors. I’d also recommend Dr. Sally Satel’s book, When Altruism Isn’t Enough, and the interview I did with her last year as well.
Update: Fixed the bad link to my earlier post on organ donation.
Blowback
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But these folks in DC who are pushing healthcare reform don’t *really* have ‘reform’ on their minds. ‘Reform’ isn’t the goal, especially ‘reform without breaking the system’.
Um, newsflash to Reason – they *want* to
break‘fundamentally transform’ the system.Midas on March 11, 2010 at 9:35 AM
But . . . but, how can we allow commoners to do things on our own?
Don’t we need our elite masters to tell us what to do, to make sure we don’t cut ourselves with scissors?
Barack, Nancy and Harry know better than we do. We must let them handle these things for us.
Next, they plan to introduce a program that will chew Americans food for them, so we don’t have to use our dead sister’s dentures.
NoDonkey on March 11, 2010 at 9:36 AM
Obama’s bolsheviks are not interested in commonsense “reform” or “healthcare” they are interested in power, looting, and collectivization.
elduende on March 11, 2010 at 9:37 AM
this is a brilliant idea that preserves the freedom of the individual to donate their organs for the benefit of others. It would also increase the training and skills of organ transplant teams in more areas across the country rather than concentrating them in highly specialized hospitals and clinics. Great idea, thanks for sharing.
ted c on March 11, 2010 at 9:39 AM
Repeat after me: It’s about control!
rightside on March 11, 2010 at 9:40 AM
Democrats are not interested in reform. They are interested in redistributionism of your wealth (not theirs) and control.
That’s it.
drjohn on March 11, 2010 at 9:42 AM
Hey, I’ve got an appendix I’m not using. Anybody interested?
/sarc
mgman on March 11, 2010 at 9:48 AM
My friend has a male sex organ that has been hibernating and estivating for years.
Any takers?
honsy on March 11, 2010 at 9:53 AM
Only if you can ensure that Pelosi chokes on it.
Midas on March 11, 2010 at 9:53 AM
But if we allowed people to sell organs, than the poor will be victimized and rich people will have access to better health care than anyone else.
We just can’t allow that in a fair society.
/end bleeding heart mode
MarkTheGreat on March 11, 2010 at 9:54 AM
Nancy Pelosi isn`t going to like this!!
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 9:55 AM
For over a year now, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and this fanatical left has attempted to transform our healthcare system into a European style government controlled system that is destined to raise EVERYTHING except the quality of care. No one to this day knows what’s in the current legislation, and yet our President travels the country telling us we must open wide and SWALLOW!
We are not even biting Mr. President. You call for an up or down vote? Well, bring it on! Let’s get this vote done now. Tell Pelosi to bring it to the floor, vote this disaster DOWN NOW……AND GET ON WITH THE REAL JOB OF REPAIRING THIS NATION’S ECONOMY.
Rovin on March 11, 2010 at 9:59 AM
Monty Python,
Organ Donor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclS1pGHp8o
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 9:59 AM
Brilliance.
Midas on March 11, 2010 at 10:08 AM
y’all will love this, an excerpt from my article on the AP article posted by Ed earlier today re “tired of talking about it”
As for President Obama himself, he plans on continuing the campaign speeches in various parts of the county to demand the passage of Obamacare now, as he exclaimed to the Missouri crowd yesterday, “[t]he time for talk is over. It’s time to vote. It’s time to vote. Tired of talking about it.” The Obama Administration apparently disapproved of the inclusion of Obama’s claim that he is “tired of talking about it” in the AP’s article, as it was almost immediately removed from the AP feed after this morning’s publication.
Democrats Complete BackroomDeal on Obamacare Legislative Language; Endgame Beginsthe
http://tiny.cc/gcTdi
Anti-Harkonnen Freedom Fighter on March 11, 2010 at 10:13 AM
Democrats could care less about healthcare reform; “healthcare” is their Gulf of Tonkin . . . simply a convenient vehicle for launching their socialist revolution. One must understand their true intentions before they can effectively be fought and defeated.
rplat on March 11, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Both Virginia Postrel and Dr. Sally Satel were on John Stossel’s Fox Business program talking about organ donation. It was a very intersting show, IMHO. If you can catch it, I’d give it a shot.
mwdiver on March 11, 2010 at 10:20 AM
My wife had to take weekly doses of Herceptin five years ago, and I’m thankful it was covered by insurance, because it’s unbelievably expensive. We’re convinced it saved her life. It’s the miracle drug for women with inflammatory breast cancer.
Ward Cleaver on March 11, 2010 at 10:21 AM
Medicines costs are crazy. I just started using one long term and have great insurance. A 30 supply at the pharmacy was $106(supposedly 25% of normal cost) but using the mail option is 90 days for $65. That’s a heck of saving by cutting out the middle man.
Cindy Munford on March 11, 2010 at 10:29 AM
And that’s the crux of it, isn’t it – too many middle men in health care. Some people think if you excise the middle men, you get lower costs. Others think if you replace all the middle men with The Ultimate Middle Man, you get better care for more people at a lower cost.
SlimyBill on March 11, 2010 at 10:36 AM
Medical Tourism.
You can buy/sell an organ in India or China.
barnone on March 11, 2010 at 10:38 AM
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_york_state/chefs-call-proposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd
See, they are worried about (about to control) our health. /s
screwauger on March 11, 2010 at 10:39 AM
What is wrong is your premise that what is truly happening is misplaced reform.
What is truly happening is the deliberate and transparently deceptive ideological destruction of America. Arguing logically, truthfully, etc. is a wast of time -they don’t want to heare the truth,(what in the world do you think PC and hate crimes were invented for?) neither does most of the great unwashed masses. They want to be lied to and they want Nirvana – here and now – in the form of the great Nanny State, which puts the left in charge as never before in history. Even Kings didn’t achieve they achieved with the entire peasantry working for them (government jobs) in the castle!
Don L on March 11, 2010 at 10:41 AM
. . . or you might be allowing others on the ladder to increase their share of profits.
honsy on March 11, 2010 at 10:42 AM
Ooo there’s that word again, “markets.” Liberals hate that. It raises a lot of red flags for them.
Sharke on March 11, 2010 at 10:42 AM
….AND…There is no lazier, less efficient, greedier ‘middle man’ than the GOVERNMENT!!!
landlines on March 11, 2010 at 10:48 AM
We have a winner!!!
honsy on March 11, 2010 at 10:49 AM
This makes a lot of sense, but how much do you want to bet that Democrats would find a way to tax organ donations?
Buy Danish on March 11, 2010 at 10:50 AM
Hip liberal types in New York whine that the city has lost its character under the nanny state meddling of the last 10 years. But still they vote these Democrat bastods back into office like their lives depend on it. New York politicians are some of the most power crazed in the country, there’s not a single minute of the day in which they’re not thinking or talking about some new legislation in response to some perceived non problem. A while back after someone was killed crossing the road with headphones on, one of the idiots proposed a law to ban people from crossing the road with headphones on. They have a mental disease, they’re in control and I know the “R” word is moderated on this site but sometimes I wonder if we’re going to get to the stage where it’s quite literally the only option. Politicians used to be ordinary people with ordinary life experience, those days are gone and now it’s a career for its own sake. The ivory towers can’t stay up forever, something has to give.
Sharke on March 11, 2010 at 10:54 AM
If by The Ultimate Middle Man, you mean the government, I think everyone knows that they never cut people out, they just add more of their employees to the current overhead at the taxpayer expense. I have to assume the saving in the mail order drugs is because of extremely large quantity and they only need one location instead of pharmacies on every corner.
Cindy Munford on March 11, 2010 at 10:56 AM
Keep your eye on the ball, folks. Health care reform is not about health, care, or reform.
It is about increasing revenue to the federal government to prop up bankrupt social programs and kick the can down the road a little bit longer.
riverrat10k on March 11, 2010 at 10:59 AM
The same problem we had with commercial blood will recur with commercial organs. We can already see the issues with commercial plasma — why go there further?
The motive for commercial donation of body parts, including blood, is money. The motive for non-commercial donations is altruism. An interesting discussion of morality of freely donated, paid “donation”, and forced “donation” may be found here. The reason I’ve quoted the word “donation” in the latter two categories is that the root of the word donation is the Latin word dona, or “gift” — and something paid for or taken forcibly from someone is not a gift.
People who would donate organs for money are, like those who once donated blood for money, members of what we consider high risk groups for diseases like hepatitis and AIDS — drug users, skid row inhabitants…
Of course, those in need of organs will argue that paying someone for a possibly diseased organ is preferable to dying for lack of one. Any laws allowing “paid donation” should indemnify the middlemen in the transplant industry — the issue of any diseased organ should be between the recipient and the donor.
unclesmrgol on March 11, 2010 at 11:13 AM
That was a sarcastic comment, right? These people can’t even run their own lunchroom efficiently.
Other than getting the hell out the way, there is nothing they can do to “repair”, “fix” or “overhaul”. PERIOD!
Amendment X on March 11, 2010 at 11:15 AM
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 9:59 AM
Brilliance.
————–
Midas on March 11, 2010 at 10:08 AM
Midas:The skit is good,Canadian and England,ahem,health
care!:)
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 11:26 AM
Democrats could care less about healthcare reform; “healthcare” is their Gulf of Tonkin . . . simply a convenient vehicle for launching their socialist revolution. One must understand their true intentions before they can effectively be fought and defeated.
rplat on March 11, 2010 at 10:18 AM
rplat:Bingo!:)
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Is that really the only reason we don’t currently allow it? Is there not a better reason?
Because it really does make a lot of sense, especially considering that live organ donation comes with its own risks that may end up costing the donor in the long run. It’s only logic that the donor should receive some sort of compensation.
Esthier on March 11, 2010 at 11:29 AM
Very disingenuous to say that Herceptin was excluded because of “politics.” Herceptin helps with cancer treatment, but also seriously damages the heart of between 2-7% of patients who take it. More people survive the cancer, but more people die of heart problems. There is a real medical debate whether the increased cancer survival rate is offset by the increase in heart deaths, meaning the expensive medical treatment really might not be saving lives in the big picture.
As for organ donation, I believe that individuals should be allowed to sell whatever body part or organ they choose for as much as they can get for it. (Though I note the irony that many people who support this idea still oppose legal prostitution — selling the temporary use of one’s body — because it involves sex.)
AngusMc on March 11, 2010 at 12:10 PM
Like someone once said, in organ donation the Hospital gets paid, the doctor who takes to organ gets paid, the doctor implanting the organ gets paid and the donor gets nothing.
Rbastid on March 11, 2010 at 12:23 PM
It’s not really ironic, because it isn’t about the idea of selling your body but about the effect achieved from both. Selling your organs is likely to mean that more people will get organs. Selling your body means that more people will get paid sex.
Paid killers are also leasing their bodies, but we don’t like the effect of their business either.
I’m not saying that makes it right, but that is the logic behind it.
Esthier on March 11, 2010 at 12:32 PM
my guess would be the more healthy you are the more you like Obamacare. having had expensive medical problems the thought of dissing the health insurance or healthcare industry would be the worst type of biting the hand that feeds you.
Soon enough the goose that lays the golden eggs will lay dead in the corner. the children who killed the goose will think themselves rich because of all the golden eggs that they have stacked in the middle of the room.
the children don’t know what happens when the golden eggs run out.
r keller on March 11, 2010 at 2:25 PM
Another market force that Obamacare will eliminate:
People under 30 or 40 do not buy medical insurance because the cost of the insurance is so much higher than the medical expenses they expect to incur in a year. In addition, many of their medical expenses are covered by various provisions of automobile insurance policies and homeowners policies.
slp on March 11, 2010 at 7:45 PM
Ahhh, yes, because murder and consensual sex between adults are so just alike. If that’s the logic behind it, God help us all, as there’s nothing logical about what you said.
xblade on March 11, 2010 at 10:10 PM
As opposed to what….getting free sex, lol?
xblade on March 11, 2010 at 10:11 PM