Health Reform: Why Aren't We Talking About Prices?

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The one piece of legislation that would have had a dramatic effect on controlling rising health insurance premiums never had a chance. Repeal of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, would have been a step in the right direction, as it would have ended the federal anti-trust exemption for the health insurance industry, ended the monopoly and led to more competitive pricing. The “threat” to repeal the exemption arises from time to time on Capitol Hill, only to go down in flames before the public even knows what hit them. Congressmen will nip, at times, the hand that feeds them. But they’re certainly not dumb enough to bite it completely off!
Follow the money. opensecrets.org

John L. of CA 3:07PM June 03, 2010

about 20 newspapers have published my suggestions on health care reform.
the federal government would pay all cost of a medical students education.
student doctors willing to participate in the government program would be relieved
of the cost of their education and student loan debt.
the student doctors upon inception of practice would be obligated to treat
a percentage of patients deemed eligible poor for office visits for a set period of time established by the federal government.
the participating doctors would not bill medicare or the federal government for services thus saving medicare all reimbursement cost. this would not only enable the
government to recoup their initial expenditure of the doctors education but also
extend the program. for every 1% medicare saves a year over a 15 year period saves
the medicare program 1 trillion dollars. as the pool of parcipating doctors increase
so does the saving for medicare.
this program can be extended to other health care providers beyond just office visits. cat scans, x-rays, mri's and more expensive precedures can be provided
in the future i can explain but not in this limited forum.
joseph p.martino millburn,nj
see:google,yahoo (medical reform joseph p.martino)

joseph martino,p. of NJ 11:25PM May 28, 2010

about 20 newspapers have published my suggestions on health care reform.
the federal government would pay all cost of a medical students education.
student doctors willing to participate in the government program would be relieved
of the cost of their education and student loan debt.
the student doctors upon inception of practice would be obligated to treat
a percentage of patients deemed eligible poor for office visits for a set period of time established by the federal government.
the participating doctors would not bill medicare or the federal government for services thus saving medicare all reimbursement cost. this would not only enable the
government to recoup their initial expenditure of the doctors education but also
extend the program. for every 1% medicare saves a year over a 15 year period saves
the medicare program 1 trillion dollars. as the pool of parcipating doctors increase
so does the saving for medicare.
this program can be extended to other health care providers beyond just office visits. cat scans, x-rays, mri's and more expensive precedures can be provided
in the future i can explain but not in this limited forum.
joseph p.martino millburn,nj
see:google,yahoo (medical reform joseph p.martino)

joseph martino,p. of NJ 11:23PM May 28, 2010

Nevertheless frivolous law suits should be dealt with. Doctors do not need a free ticket to not do there job, Hospitals, and lawyers or who ever is involved in the decision to help or not help a patient or give them the care that they need should be included in any law suit. Doctors many times think through there insurance companies, hospitals and lawyers and so do not act on there own.
Big brother(big business) has to many protections, It is time that we the people get a few protections.
Don D. Brock

Don D. Brock of AZ 8:39PM April 29, 2010

This would be a good place to start,
Healthcare should not be about making money and like illegal drugs, we need to take the profits out of our health systems.

Louis of CO 2:14PM April 27, 2010

after having scores of articles on the healthcare, no one has pointed out the exact reason for the excessive cost of medical care in USA. My belief is the reason for this excess spending for healthcare is based on 3 facts
a) lack of Tort reform wherein the threat of malpractice has led to defensive medicine.
b) liability issues for the drug companies...which increases the cost of the product.
c) greedy companies which make the products most expensive when related to medical field.
if the above 3 are fixed, then we should see drop in healthcare expenditure with the curve of spending going down !
nothing is given without tort reform.

gvnaga of NY 9:50PM April 20, 2010

Obamacare is a step in the right direction, Because it deals with “preventative health care” Right now though that phrase means prevent from getting healthy, Hopefully in the future it will mean prevent from getting sick.
For those military people out there that would mean more healthy young adults that can pass the physical requirements so they can get in the service, Yes, I heard this morning on TV that the health of our children is becoming a national security issue.
We should consider education and health the same issue and like in some cases one should not prevent the other. Maybe schools should have there own Doctors that can counsel with outside doctors.
Don D. Brock

Don D. Brock of AZ 12:06PM April 20, 2010

Big business "can't" afford it. They claim that they're doing everything they can to maintain costs--and they are. What they're not controlling are the huge markups and prices they charge for their products! If we had a law on the books telling them that they could only make 25% profit on their products and services, we'd cut the cost of healthcare by TWO-THIRDS or better!

Barry W. Shook of IN 3:23PM March 31, 2010

moo

cxvb of NE 9:20AM March 10, 2010

I did a cost comparison calculation on the cost of a simple IV in hospitals. There are no fancy drugs with high-priced research costs in these, mind you. Just a saline solution with electrolytes.
The cost per 5 gallons: $2100.
Cost of goods: About $5 bucks.
How's that for profit? Not bad, huh? And we all get to pay for it. Except those who gleefully take it to the bank.
Another secret busted.

Mike Watson of IL 8:50AM March 07, 2010