Correspondent of the Day
This Isn't About Health Care at All
Editor, Times-Dispatch: People are clamoring for health care reform, and they expect the government to provide it.
How can any logical, clear-thinking individual believe the government can fix the problems in our health care system? The government created it, managed it, and got it where it is. Government hasn't fixed it because health care is not the real issue.
If health care were the real issue, we'd be hearing about the successful program the Swiss have, wherein:
- Every Swiss citizen must have health insurance;
- Citizens, not their employers or government, select and purchase their own insurance;
- Government subsidizes insurance premiums for those who cannot afford them; and
- Competition among insurance companies keeps costs down. The government involves itself in the affairs of only those who ask for financial help.
Contrast that with what our elected officials are proposing.
Increasing government control is the real issue. Think about the leverage government will have over every citizen (except our elected officials who will be exempt) when we have national health care. By threatening to change system criteria or benefits, government can coerce citizens into accepting whatever government wants, not just in health care matters.
Americans don't like the word socialism, but remember, socialism isn't an either-or proposition. It is a continuum with total government control at one end and no government control at the other. The more government control, the more socialistic a country becomes. We are already too socialistic and allowing our elected officials to vote national health care into law will push us past the point of no return.
Contact your representatives and tell them to oppose the versions being considered. Time is running out. This is too serious to ignore.
Paul Knapik.
Glen Allen.
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Reader Reactions
Oh Lord! Someone dare said, “Regulate premiums”; thus, crapped on hollowed ground!
Socialism! Communisummmm! Ismmmms galore!
What would Party Leader Limbaugh say to verbally castrate such a sinner? Pray and sin no more?
Dare never voice against greed and profit for America’s insurance pirates, as they are to be worshipped and suckled while yea pay for such homage.
Personally,I generally don’t trust the insurance companies OR the government.
Neither is looking out for me.
At present, if I don’t like my insurance company,I can shop around and change insurance companies.
I CAN’T change governments.
Open up interstate competition between the insurance companies .Let the government regulate issues like pre-existing conditions and denial of coverage.Regulate premiums.
But DO NOT create a public option by any name which will in short order be the only option for everyone except the politicians.Any thinking mind understands that.
We don’t need it and we can’t afford it.It’s that simple.
Monopolies have an excellent record of bringing the price down, NOT.
Let all 1,700 insurance companies offer their services without restriction and watch the price of health insurance come down fast. You don’t need a government option - just lots of private options competing against one another.
Remember how much a calculator cost in 1977? About $300.00 +. Now you can get one for about $10.00 from a variety of manufacturers. Two years ago, I bought a Garmin GPS for $500.00. Now, with Tom-Tom et al, you can get one that’s much better than mine for about $250.00. The only price for something that I can recall that has not dramatically changed has been the price of an abortion - right about $350 - $400 since 1980. At 1.2 million abortions a year, that industry is making a mint.
“Increased competition among insurers does not necessarily bring pries down”...
Got that right. That’s why we need one major option that would bring prices down. Call it “whatever”, but duplicate the same set of insurer plan options and premiums as you find on web site for the Federal Employee Health Benefits program; plans in which the Family of Five insurers have participation…at a reasonable profit for themselves.
Look, see, learn. Some family plans under $700 per month, full premium. Sure beats $1,115 per month national average employer plan for one employee with a family.
Increased competition among insurers does not necessarily bring pries down, despite what Obama says. Why? Because the larger companies have larger client bases and subsequently higher leverage to negotiate lower rates with hospitals. Smaller companies are squeezed out.
I suggest each of you listen to these “This American Life” podcasts on healthcare:
http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/391.mp3
http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/392.mp3
They are very eye (ear?) opening and help explain why we are in such a mess today.
The Swiss system looks pretty good to me, especially the part about separation from the employer. The question is, how do we get there, if not by some government action. I don’t see why so many people assume the government wants to “take over” everybody’s health care. Doesn’t the move from what we have to anything better require some action on somebody’s part? One problem we would have is that so many people object to being told they have to buy health insurance. If everybody that uses the system pays into it, it gets cheaper for everybody. The Catch 22 is that until it gets cheaper, so many people can’t afford to pay into it, or regard it as not worth the price.
So, we’re going to hand over the wasteful and corrupt healthcare system to the wasteful and corrupt government. Yeah, that’s a good idea.
The fact remains;
The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.
Some other findings in the report from Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters:
* Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 a year.
* Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.
* Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.
* Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.
* Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.
“The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada,“ reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.
All this could help explain why Americans spend more per capita and the highest percentage of GDP on healthcare than any other OECD country, yet has an unhealthier population with more diabetes, obesity and heart disease and higher rates of neonatal births than other developed nations.
Why do so many on the left deign to call themselves ‘progressives?‘ It’s an oxymoron in line with the term ‘social conservative.‘
Ceding more power to the government is the antithesis of progress.
proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud
Our government fighting fraud? That’s a good one.
The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.
The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.
“America’s healthcare system is indeed hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial,“ the report reads.
One example—a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending.
“It is waste when caregivers duplicate tests because results recorded in a patient’s record with one provider are not available to another or when medical staff provides inappropriate treatment because relevant history of previous treatment cannot be accessed,“ the report reads.
Some other findings in the report from Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters:
* Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 a year.
* Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.
* Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.
* Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.
* Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.
“The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada,“ reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.
All this could help explain why Americans spend more per capita and the highest percentage of GDP on healthcare than any other OECD country, yet has an unhealthier population with more diabetes, obesity and heart disease and higher rates of neonatal births than other developed nations.
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