It would be easier to rebuild the WTC than whoelsale changing the tax code.
The $300M spent lobbying on HC wouldn't even be tip money if you tried to completely overhaul the tax code at one time.
Small bites are much mroe likely.
We gotta stop kicking the can down the road on the Tax Code, SS and Medicare.
Deal w/ them all, save the country.
One thing I hope my generation has the cojones to do is fix all 3, otherwise we're going to hell in a hand basket.
We should change social Security by means testing and upping the age over time.
Why don't we limit what SS is willing to "do" for it's population. I think more decision support for docs would be awesome. Make the prove the patient needs the procedure before performing it.
For instance, my grandfather and grandmother both go to a podiatrist to have their toenails trimmed every month. POP, office visit charge to medicare. Totally unnecessary.
This already happens via the insurance companies, ask any doctor. If you are insinuating that doctors perform unneccessary medical procedures then you are very uninformed. Also, podiatrists are not MD's and are known for specious charges like these.
Wait a minute, hold the phone. Are you telling me I'm wrong for insinuating physicians perform unnecessary procedures in order to increase income?
Tests, maybe. Surgeries, no. Many of these tests are done not to raise revenue but to protect themselves from ambulance chasers.
Tests FOR SURE. And it's not all about ambulance chasers. See imaging self-referral in orthopedics/spine care as the two most blatant examples.
Some do it but not the majority. Last time I had tests, the lab billed me, not the doctor so he had no incentive other than it was needed or he was trying to cover his ass.