Health Buzz: Health Insurers Propose Overhaul and Other Health News

Service or Right?

Does everyone need health insurance? No. They only need it if they want to live.

Does everyone need food? No. They only need it if they want to live.

Does the government mandate that everyone eat? No. So why would we mandate health insurance?

Those who advocate for government-run health care apparently have never received medical services at government-run clinics or hospitals like the old and poorly-equipped state-run Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Government-employed doctors and nurses have no incentives to work hard i.e. seeing more patients because they are on fixed salaries. i.e. they get the same pay whether they see 20 or 100 patients a day. In a single-payer health care system, because of the lack of competition, government-run hospitals and clinics have no reasons or incentives to improve their facilities and services due to constant government budget constraint and deficit. On the other hand, private hospitals/ clinics and private physician practices are constantly trying to improve their facilities, their services, and their efficiency because they are in competition for more customers (patients). The more patients they see the more money they make. The next time you are sick, just check into one of you local government-run public clinic or hospital and see how long the wait line and wait time is and what kind of services you receive. Or you can follow these links and read this news story to learn about some of these government-run facilities.

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Three_Hospital_Employees_Fired_After_Patients_Death_29603.html

http://www.cherryhospital.org/

If we are willing to pay taxes at 2 to 3 times the rate we are currently paying, then our government will probably be able to provide universal “free” health care for everyone like the system the Europeans are receiving. I don’t know what the tax rates for the Europeans are but I suspect theirs are much higher than ours. I do know for a fact that a gallon of gas here costs 3 to 4 dollars; in Europe it’s 10 to 12 dollars.

Adding Uninsured to the Pool Reduces Cost How?

Points to ponder: 1) The British system is a nationalized system built from the ground up after WWII. It's highly unlikely this country will ever nationalize all the providers; no margin = no mission. 2) How is adding 50M uninsured people (recall, low finances usually = poorer health status) going to spread the risk and the cost? Adding people with poorer health status means fees have to go up for the current payers, or services have to be reduced. 3) If you increase demand for services and not service delivery capacity (see Mass.) then expect to wait for treatment unless care is rationed. 4) There will always be conditions not cured or managed by good nutrition and exercise. But, the majority of the health problems Americans face are directly related to poor diets and lack of exercise. A lot of costs could be avoided if we, as individuals, were truly committed to healthy lifestyles. It's not that lip service is all that's paid to nutrition/exercise. It's that most folks don't want to be bothered with the time and effort it takes and healthcare providers grow weary of talking the the unreceptive or unwilling. 5) There's no such thing as something for nothing. That said, we should be able to figure out how to at least keep people from going bankrupt due to medical expenses. 6) If it was an easy fix, then it would've been done by now. Complex problems can have easy solutions, but they require a lot of resources. Some of those resources are public (law making; public money) and some are private (taking responsibility for the things you can control about your health). Good luck and good health to all.

Nice propsosal , lets Suck more blood off Americans.

Health Insurance is your Birth Right not a privilege, We need to look at British , Canadian , French models, Once again Insurance CEO'S OR people who Making big money they gonna try to do whatever they can to sabotage Universal Coverage, There is around 50 to 80 millions Americans do not have Health ins, Its time to take the Greed out of health care, if the Rich do want Universal care they can always go to private Doctors.

Just a thought...

It seems as though making insurance companies non-profit would make a lot of sense.

Reality Check 101 to Irrational Mandates

Mandated coverage is not an overhaul of the health care system. It is no more a solution than giving a crack cocaine addict the keys to the vault filled with kilos of cocaine. Mandated coverage does not cap costs or profits of the health insurance companies. The delivery model of health care in this country is broken and bloated. Overhaul should address changing the very model.

As a Massachusetts resident where health insurance is mandated by law, my Blue Cross Blue Shield premium went up 26% and I have a $1000 deductible and only routine exams--perfectly healthy.

Mandated coverage is unconstitutional. Mandated coverage only serves the needs of the insurance companies with no checks and balances. Mandated coverage in not the solution but further prolongs the problems.

Health Care

I'm ready for healthcare for everybody--except the zillionaires--let Congress define that. Let's face it, the poor are getting health care already. Many middle-class, working people are not. So let's join those who get free medical care. Why the hell not? Pride? What will Pride get you? A foot in the grave faster than homeless but entitled medical recipients. People who worked their butts off and got laid off got no benefits except an unreachably costly Cobra plan that drained all savings. I'm for everybody getting the health care. Damned those people high on the mountain not knowing they could fall off any time through a strike of bad luck, bad health, or bad karma. There' so much propoganda that the U.S. medical industry is the best (which it is not in comparison to many other countries) in the world. It's the same capitalistic propoganda aimed to maintain the status quo that keeps the money rolling the rich man's way.Pharmaceutical companies funded Bush more than any other industry, and his administration abusively neglected their responsibility to, yes, regulate the beast--not capitalism but greed of man. Capitalism is like a bulldozer. It can do a lot of good, but it does not mean it is has morals. Unchecked capitalism will not provide financial health in a nation; only with a balance of regulatory measures and bridled special interests will capitalism be kept in check. Same with medical care. It is an industry; but health is not a business measured in dollars; it's measure is boundless. There is no choice in a country that is "equal to all' but to provide equal health care to all--forget the rich for a while; let them worry like the rest of us.

Let's Cut Costs

1. Doctors are exempt from civil malpractice suits. Most primary care doctors are losing money on their practices due to the high cost of insurance.

2. Free health care?......so you are saying you want the bureaucracy that is the US government administering healthcare? Not a good idea. The weight on the insurance industry is not the free occasional check up rather the $200,000 hospital claim that goes unpaid and the inflated cost of care to cover insurance premiums.

The government should provide medical stop-loss insurance i.e. they pay claims over 5,000 or 10,000 dollars. These claims happen less frequently, healthcare becomes affordable as health insurance premiums paid by citizens are for claims administration and the first $5,000 in liability. And the government would have a vested interest in reducing the amount of payouts for malpractice suits or eliminating them altogether.

3. Electronic patient records. Already being implemented across the board.

Confused health care system

We need to take a deep breath jump in and sort this mess out.

Healthcare must be reorganized to give coverage to all; coverage would be paid for by the Government but supported through our PAYE deductions. Private health insurance can be purchased by those who want Platinum coverage and used in Private FOR profit hospitals and docotrs offices (And yes doctors can have their private and public practice). And those who have the green stuff can purchase healthcare where ever they want to within the private health care industry.

In the same way we have the Public school system for all, and private schools for those who can afford it.

President Elect Obama if you need any help or ideas drop me a line. :-)

Statistically everyone is better off self-insuring. I share yoru fustration with the irresponsible individuals who used care without paying for it. I believe at the very least they should have to repay the state with interest. However, that shouldn't reflect on the rest of us who save our money and value our freedom. I would never use health care I couldn't pay for.

Part of the problem is the medical establishment charges extroidairally high rates for it services. If it were more cost effective it could achieved the same outcome at a price people can easily afford.