Are you surprised that health-spending cuts aren't popular?

My friend Guy Boulton at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has written a piece that I had wanted to do but never got around to. So please, read his version. 

In essence, he quotes health policy experts as saying, any health-reform proposal that would be popular enough to pass would be unaffordable, and any that we could afford would cause a revolt. 

So it's not surprising that public support for heath-system reform keeps dropping as specific recommendations are floated. Any that would work would bite someone's wallet, and that someone squawks. 

Thus, insurers, hospitals, doctors, drug companies and other interests have made certain that the bills now on the table wouldn't bite deeply. So that means it's tough to cut enough flab to make room for the millions who are uninsured.

And before you say, "What flab?" you may want to check the international comparison chart that shows the U.S. spends far more per person than any other country on health care products and services.

Guy cites a statistic that surprised me: only 46 percent of Americans supported Medicare when it was passed. And that was in a period when the economy had been growing for two decades.  And now Medicare is so popular among those who are enrolled that they're worried about any cuts to it.

So, to sum things up: It's no surprise that support for health reform has dropped, policy experts say. Probably no legislation that actually reformed the health-care system in the ways it needs to change would be popular.

--Carol Gentry, Editor, can be reached at 727-410-3266 or by e-mail.