Health care reform...

[Gomer]

I've not given tons of thought to this... but I have some pretty basic opinions of what the problem is. I'm looking for some alternative points of view.


I think the root of the problem is that Health Care Providers in the US have been given a blank check and are providing services to which there are no limits. What is a life worth? Any disease that can be treated is treated regardless of the expense. So long as there is an insurance company there to pick up the tab... or the treated has deep enough pockets... or the treated decides that insurmountable debt is the price to be paid so their son might live to see the age of 5.

The root of the problem is that of course you want the BEST TREATMENT POSSIBLE. There is no doubt that when it comes to LIFE and QUALITY OF LIFE nothing but the best will suffice.

How is that resolved? How does one deal with the fact that the only way things are going to become affordable is if they stop trying to treat every single thing? Certainly I want to be treated... You want to be treated.

There are two options I think in the big picture... neither of which is appealing.

A. The status quo. Standard (i.e. premium) care for those who can afford it via insurance, $$$, or insurmountable debt and a much lesser caliber of care for those without.

B. Care for all, but of a somewhat lesser quality.

FWIW, my friend is a pharmacist. Do you know how much the typical pharmacist makes? TOO DAMN MUCH. He gets paid an exorbitant amount of money to stand around doing practically nothing working the graveyard shift at a hospital. The same goes for retail pharmacists (he does that too). With a blank check written by the insurance companies... they can charge whatever the hell they want. There is nothing to balance that.

Look at drug companies. What price can be put on quality of life? There will always be insatiable demand for treatment of anything that can be labeled a malady. With private insurance... as long as there is a business owner willing to pony up the $$$ for premiums... there is a blank check for meds. And as long as they can cash blank checks... premiums are going to go up. There is nothing to stop it.

FWIW also... we recently had a sit down at work. Premiums for the owner were going up 20%. I went from somewhat adequate insurance where my expenses were manageable... to a program where no matter what... any health care I receive I'll be responsible for $1500 out of pocket before any relief at all kicks in and 20% of the next $5,000 (with no prescription benefits). I can't bitch... because I am sure I am far from the worst off here at Techimo. But now any time I decide to play a game of volleyball, or climb up on a ladder, or help a neighbor split some wood... I need to make sure I have $2,500 laying around in case I need to go the ER for some sort of routine treatment.

Rant off... lets discuss.

[shawshank62]

Gomer, I suggest you check out this book http://www.amazon.com/Critical-Condi.../dp/0385504543

The real problem is that in the last 30 years the idea of a free market system in healthcare took hold with the notion that competition would drive down prices and increase the quality of care as hospitals, insurance companies, etc. would compete with each other. But the reality is that the exact opposite has occurred, and a huge bureaucracy has taken its place. The system is not more affordable, it's not more efficent, and it will only continue to get worse. When hospitals, and health care providers were non-profit the entire system worked fairly efficent, but when you are trying to make a profite you introduce a whole new ball game. Patient care is put behind profit, and thus hospital quality degrades, and prices go up. It's such a complex situation, but please don't think there it's the patients fault. It's the CEO's, the government, the insurance companies, etc. The list is huge.

Like you said, some insurance companies perform surgeries which are unnecessary to simply make a profit, and other times if the care is too expensive, insurance companies will take precident over the doctors decision and remove patients from treatment. It really all boils down to, a free-market system in health care does not work.

[moo]

Hmmmmm........all I can think right now is how (in my experience) the hospital/doctor/blah blah has accepted what my insurance company was willing to pay. This amount, BTW, is based on the average cost of whichever procedure across the given region. It has not been uncommon for the doctor/hospital/etc to have to settle for an amount that was less than what they would have charged otherwise. Maybe that is why Geisinger Health Care was one of the best in the nation. Of course, now my health care is free. Thanks Uncle Sam!

[Gomer]

Shawshank: At $4, I think I can swing adding that to my Amazon Christmas order.

I am surprised at how few comments this has gotten. I thought for sure Epidemic would chime in with something interesting.

[The Real Bingo]

This is one things Americans can't really do for themselves - they can't treat their illnesses. People can save for retirement, so we don't need social security. People can get a job (assuming they're of sound mind and body - can anyone say decent and cheap health care?), so we don't need welfare.

I think we should stop spending on those two things I listed, and focus on keeping our population healthy by providing readily available and affordable medical care.

Of course, this should only apply to legal citizens. We're already too "nice" to the illegals who come in and seek health care.

[Creatures]

Quote:

Care for all, but of a somewhat lesser quality.

hm for those who have no care at all this is at least something, the rest can still have the higher payed (private) insurance

like over here (switzerland)

Creatures

[M_Six]

I lived in Germany for a while as a civilian and was covered by their universal health care. Some folks may tell you it's "free" over there, but that is far from the truth. When I worked for UPS, I took home just under 40% of my monthly pay. The rest went to taxes and health care. And when you went to a doctor, your appt was either 9AM or 1PM. You showed up at 9AM and joined a huge waiting list of people who also had 9AM appts. Then you got shuffled into one of a dozen small examining rooms and had med techs take your vitals and talk to you about your problem. You could hear the doctor working his way closer to your room. When he got there, he talked to the techs about your problem and then told them what to do. Then he was off to the next room. Most of the time you had to come back for two or three follow-up visits, no matter how small the problem. It was said a doctor had to see a new patient every 3 minutes in order to make money and the follow-up visits were just to insure a steady income.

On the other hand, the hospitals were really nice and the emergency room care was quick and thorough. I hear it's not that way in Canada, where they also have universal care. Universal health care has its drawbacks, too. It seems to be another of those problems with no apparent solution.