I expect the whole healthcare system to eventually become one gigantic Kaiser Permanente-type managed care institution, but with more bureaucracy, and fewer doctors per patient. For people who have had good healthcare plans, this will be a major downgrade in healthcare services. For those who have had no healthcare insurance and who have had to rely on emergency rooms, it will be an upgrade. I think the thing that bugs me most is that there has been so little thought given to how to reduce healthcare costs. Everything until now has been squabbling about whether to have some form of national healthcare insurance system and whose pockets to pick to pay for it. Meanwhile, the healthcare and pharmaceuticals lobbies have been hard at work making sure that nothing is done to cut their costs and to ensure that they'll make even more money.
I agree with everything, but your second paragraph is what I really align with. The people with vested interest in this have done a great job of changing the debate of how to get healthcare costs under control to whether or not we should have Obamacare. Costs are not going to be reduced and no real effort has been put into doing so. Obama wants it passed because he wants his legacy, even though the higher costs are hidden.
One of the two small business owners I talked to there was clearly pulling down mad stacks of fat cash. He basically started with nothing from what my wife tells me. I don't know if he's truly wealthy compared to the 1% here in the US, but man oh man I'd love to have his bank account. As to why we are less mobile, I get that you feel it's because of government intrusion and rent-seeking behavior of lobbiests and other hangers-on, coupled with Americans just not being as awesome (ie, agreeing with you) as they did back in your day. I doubt there's much I can say to convince you otherwise. And truthfully, I do see the rent-seeking thing as a major issue, but probably for different reasons.
