One of the biggest reasons the cost of health care in this nation has skyrocketed, and made the United States by far the most expensive industrialized nation in which to get health care, is corporate greed. Unlike every other country, which have outlawed the very concept of a for-profit primary care system, the American health care industry has been based on a fatally flawed model from the start - they are an industry which can only make a profit by denying its customers the very thing that they pay the industry for. By denying coverage, the industry profits.
The Health Care Reform Law does not solve the problem. But it does force the industry to change their m.o. and actually spend most of their money on the service they are supposed to provide, and that is a very, very good thing. This year alone the American public will receive more than a billion dollars in rebates because of this provision.
The real game-changer in "Obamacare". Good thing or bad thing?
Heptarch
2012/07/04 13:39:10
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Please read the entire article before commenting. It's just a couple of pages, but it's vital you understand why it's important before commenting. Thanks.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/12/02/the-bomb-bur...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/12/02/the-bomb-bur...
Top Opinion
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ProudProgressive 2012/07/04 13:54:37
However, I will continue to follow this topic closely, and I hope my opinion doesn't change.
What is this "need list" you're talking about? People who don't have adequate healthcare and need it?
If anything, it simply says what kind of people you hang out with.
No, better to use "need", then present some easily defined, legally binding ways (such as time limits on benefits) of ensuring that the system can't be abused.
The Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL)
Single Payer Universal Coverage is code for YOU PAY through the nose
Do you honestly believe the dollar can stand against the same pressures when it is already under assault by Bernanke's printing presses?
They're not. Most of them have universal health care and it's doing well.
Taiwan has a single payer health care system that costs 7% of GDP. The government pays and health care professionals run the system.
I live in Costa Rica which has a single payer system that costs my wife and I just under $100 per month for BOTH of us. The U.S. will certainly not meet that cost but single payer should reduce the cost of health care in the U.S.by 40% as long as health care professionals run the system and start working instead of wasting time..
I could not get an answer from any hospital or clinic. With a little networking assistance, I got a peek at some of the billings distributed by a servicing firm. The same procedure performed by the same facility had as many as 6 different prices.
I have experienced a few different healthcare systems. The worst was the UK and the best was German, with respect to service levels. Given the choice, I would still prefer the quality of care of our system.
Quality is a lot like buying oats to feed your horse. If you wish to have pretty fair oats, you must expect to pay a pretty fair price. If you prefer oats that have already been through the horse, of course, that comes a little cheaper.
The mandate is in reality an unfair restraint of trade.
let me add in, your 69... so you are on medicare... a GOVERNMENT run health care program. You do not have to worry about getting sick or injured and not getting care, your covered already.
So you just want to make sure that the "other guy" does not get medical care, because you've got yours?
Your day will come. Do not dare print this and keep it in your desk drawer. The words will scorch your desk before you know it, leaving an indelable mark.
What you are, I once was. What I am, you will be.
Friend of mine lost everything, and finally had to declare bankruptcy to cover the residual costs and keep his home and one car. Over $150,000 as I remember.
Medicare is not free. right now they take $99 out of my SS checks, and my wifes as well for about $198 a month. And under Obamacare in 2013, it is going to be raised. Last I read to about $148 per month, which approaches $300 from our Social Security, That has not had but one COLA in about 4 years. .
Right now we have an Advantage program that picks up our CoPays. But under Obamacare many of the Advantage programs are going to be put out of business. Some have already folded in anticipation of O'care.
Here's some idea of how it worked in Massechusetts after 5 years.
A new study by the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), which has 23,000 physicians and student members and publishes the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, takes an in-depth look at healthcare in Massachusetts under the state program, which is often regarded as a model for Obama’s 2010 healthcare reforms. Among its findings:
• The average wait time for an appointment with an internist is 48 days...
Friend of mine lost everything, and finally had to declare bankruptcy to cover the residual costs and keep his home and one car. Over $150,000 as I remember.
Medicare is not free. right now they take $99 out of my SS checks, and my wifes as well for about $198 a month. And under Obamacare in 2013, it is going to be raised. Last I read to about $148 per month, which approaches $300 from our Social Security, That has not had but one COLA in about 4 years. .
Right now we have an Advantage program that picks up our CoPays. But under Obamacare many of the Advantage programs are going to be put out of business. Some have already folded in anticipation of O'care.
Here's some idea of how it worked in Massechusetts after 5 years.
A new study by the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), which has 23,000 physicians and student members and publishes the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, takes an in-depth look at healthcare in Massachusetts under the state program, which is often regarded as a model for Obama’s 2010 healthcare reforms. Among its findings:
• The average wait time for an appointment with an internist is 48 days, and the wait time to see a family physician is 36 days.
• The average wait time for pediatricians is 24 days, according to the MMS’s “2011 Study of Patient Access to Health Care.”
• Access to primary care physicians is becoming more restricted — 53 percent of family physicians and 51 percent of internists are not accepting new patients.
• Patients wait an average of 43 days to see a gastroenterologist, and 41 days to see an obstetrician/gynecologist.
• While 87 percent of family physicians accept Medicare, only 62 percent accept MassHealth, the state’s version of Medicaid.
• Only 56 percent of family physicians and 43 percent of internists accept Commonwealth Care, an insurance program for adults who don’t have private health insurance and don’t qualify for Medicare. Just 44 percent of family physicians and 35 percent of internists accept Commonwealth Choice, a program for uninsured adults that offers unsubsidized health insurance to people who are not eligible for Medicaid or Commonwealth Care.
• Due, in part, to a shortage of doctors participating in the program, the number of emergency room visits has actually risen under the Massachusetts plan.
-----------------------------...
And the expected cost savings??
The BHI report states: “Now that the law has been in effect for more than five years, we can begin to assess its impact on the state of Massachusetts.”
Among the findings:
• State healthcare expenditures have risen by $414 million over the five-year period.
• Private health insurance costs have risen by $4.31 billion.
• The federal government has spent an additional $2.41 billion on Medicaid in Massachusetts.
• Medicare expenditures increased by $1.42 billion.
The total cumulative cost over the period is just over $8.5 billion.
But the state has been able to shift the majority of the costs to the federal government, which continues to absorb a significant part of the cost of healthcare reform through enhanced Medicaid payments and the Medicare program — meaning Americans outside Massachusetts are helping to pay the bills for the healthcare plan.
In analyzing the study’s results, the researchers observe: “Cost-containment is often a major goal of health reform plans. However, this particular healthcare reform legislation did not provide an effective means for containing costs.