|
One of the major causes of spiralling healthcare costs is due to low reimbursement rates for existing government healthcare programs, such as medicare and medicaid. What happens is that healthcare providers get such low reimbursements from medicare that they are forced to raise their rates on the private insurance companies. Furthermore, physicians also start refusing to accept medicare patients because the reimbursements are so low. Alternatively, physicians don't go into general practice but instead go into a specialization that gets paid higher rates, and now we end up with a shortage of general practice physicians and an abundance of physicians specializing in internal medicine and such. Many patients don't realize it, but medicare is an absolute mess and it is an awful program for physicians and other healthcare providers.
Likewise, government run hospitals are also atrocious. Remember the headlines about rats infesting the Roger Reed Medical Center? How about the headlines about Pres. Obama's administration asking returning soldiers to use private insurance to pay for their military related health issues? Or the booklet the VA was handing out to returning soldiers with major health problems that asks them if they wanted to be burden to their familes, or if they wanted to live like this?
The government also points to the enourmous costs of paperwork and a lack of electronic medical records as causes of spiralling healthcare cost. However, it is usually government regulations and mandates that are the cause of the bureaucratic paperwork. It is also government regulations on patient privacy (i.e. HIPAA) that is a major hurdle to healthcare enties sharing electronic medical information.
I am apprehensive about turning over private control of healthcare to the government when examples of government envolvment in healthcare has been less than stellar to say the least. However, this doesn't mean I am opposed to some kind of change. I want everyone to have access to healthcare. I want healthcare costs lowered. I just don't think the nebulous plan put forward by the Obama administration is the solution. In fact, I am nearly certain that it will cause healthcare costs to either skyrocket or will result in significant deterioration of healthcare quality. Probably both. I'm also happy with my own healthcare coverage and I fear that the Obama plan will result in the loss of my current healthcare insurance. JohnClif, in a previous post, put forward several excellent recomendations that I could support
- Tort reform (a major cause of spiralling healthcare costs)
- Catastrophic insurance for the unissured (excellent idea JohnClif)
- Prevention of denying claims due to pre-existing conditions
- Allow purchase of insurance across state lines (imagine doing this online)
Another suggestion is to relieve the strain placed on Emergency Rooms. Maybe this can be accomplished by allowing pharmacies to provide "minute clinics", where typical ailments such as colds, flu, strep throat, etc. can addressed by medical personnel outside of a hospital setting and could also provide revenue for the pharmacy. They have these in Mass. and are well liked.
|