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Jun
28

That “oh, crap…” moment

It’s tough to find any thoughtful Brit on the “Leave” side who isn’t haven’t second thoughts about the vote to leave the European Union.  

With the pound taking a, well, pounding; equity markets down 5%+ around the globe, and the total inability of the leadership of either British political party to come up with anything coherent to say about what to do now, those thoughtful types have much to be thinking about.

It’s too bad this thinking wasn’t done before the referendum that is causing the clustermess in Europe, and will almost certainly hurt Britain much more than the EU.

There was a lot of fearmongering on all sides, a good bit of nasty nativism from Leavers, and a slew of unfounded statements about various and sundry awful ways the EU was ruining Britain.  Simplistic claims unsupported by facts or data ruled the day, and now there’s a shipload of buyers’ remorse. A few other complications…

First, there’s a nascent but forceful move in Northern Ireland to leave the UK and merge with Ireland – which is still part of the EU.

Second, Scotland may well vote to leave the UK as well, making the UK and “Union” of England and Wales.

Third, Gibraltar is now being claimed by Spain, and reportedly is in talks with Scotland in an effort to somehow stay in the EU as the UK’s representative.

Add this to the financial mess in the UK, and it is blindingly obvious that the Brexit vote was a really bad decision.

I could go on, but you get the picture.  What this has to do with we health care and work comp folks is this – when it comes to big decisions, such as overhauling healthcare, passing workers’ comp opt-out legislation, compromising on opioid limits, or otherwise legislating or regulating things that are big – at least for us – be thoughtful, ask lots of questions, look for facts, data, and logic in responses, and weigh things carefully.

What does this mean for us?

When it comes to big issues, do not get caught up in simple statements and black-and-white comparisons.  The world is more complicated than ever, and major decisions deserve major time and attention.


5 thoughts on “That “oh, crap…” moment”

  1. “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.”
    H. L. Mencken

  2. We live in the so-called “Information Age” but “Mis-information” might be the better descriptor. We would all do well to check and double-check our information sources – facts seldom get in the way of an agenda and too many people go to the source that tells them what they want to hear. There is very little accountability anymore and accurate reporting seems to be given little importance. While we are hit from all sides with “information” that does not necessarily mean knowledge come with it.

  3. There may be another lesson here. In an age when a deluge of information may become instantly available, we should avoid the temptation to provide instant analysis. With regard to Brexit, I’m not sure that the panic and doom and gloom in the first few days after the vote reflect long term reality any more than the market upturns in the last two days. The truth is that it will take a while to know the impact of what has happened. For both good and ill, there will be outcomes we currently do not expect.

    That is often true in complex systems such as workers’ compensation, as well.

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Joe Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates

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