tazzygirl -> RE: Big Government v. Big Corporations (7/22/2009 6:40:20 PM)
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I have no problem with having a private, single-payor system, or a public one. Unlike you, Merc, I don't think that there is any real benefit to a 'choice' when it comes to basic health care, hospitalization, prescriptions, mental health care, vision care, and dental care. Having a solid single-payor system, whether public or private, and funded by either a flat-percentage premium or through a specific, flat-percentage tax would, I think, provide the basics of decent coverage for every American citizen. Beyond that, I think people should have the -option- of additional, supplemental coverage that would, perhaps, provide some coverage for optional procedures like non-medically-indicated cosmetic surgery, transgender surgery, and other obscure and not-medically-critical procedures (Botox, anyone?), and this is a place where for-profit, free-market insurance systems would be perfectly acceptable. Must be the schooling, because i so totally agree with you here. But its not exactly what is needed. There are so many ways to fix this problem. Military has its own insurance, and does a pretty good job from what i see with my parents. not perfect, i dont think any system ever will be. The system needs to be revamped, from the inside out. This is just my opinion, based upon my nursing experience. Preventative care is a must. An absolute must. And much cheaper than the system we have now. Its so much cheaper to pay for a prescription than to cure the results of NOT having that prescription. Thats just simple math, and it infuriates me that the insurance companies and health care officials wont recognize it. I do prefer GP's for all initial contact. Too many people have gotten into the habit of self diagnosis based upon web sites and what a "friend" said happened to them. From GP's, then specialists can be contacted. Tests ordered. I dont forsee long lines at a cat scanner... you would still need a Dr's order, just like for medication. If medical is paid for... and ill get back to that in a moment... then specialists would need that bride between them and the patients. Imagine the waiting period for a surgeon because a patient thinks they have a bad gallbladder only to discover they have a stomach bug. Part of the high cost of medicine is people with no insurance. They cannot afford it, it isnt offered at work.. they have no job.. whatever the reason. They use the ER as a Dr's office, given no other choice. So hospitals have the added expense of non emergency use of their services, equating to higher costs. many tests in the ER are ordered stat.. again.. higher costs. 600 dollars a stich isnt for the Dr to put them in. I like to take a common ailment and use it as an example. High BP... common enough these days. Most pay around 300-500 for meds a month, without prescription insurance. There are many complications that can arise from uncontrolled BP, stroke, heart attack, passing out (think stitches here), renal failure and dialysis, just to nake a few. all could land a person in the hospital for a few days to weeks. not everyone is compliant when they see a Dr. a roommate of mine had to see his Dr every three months, and even with insurance his meds ran around 100 a month, on top of the co pay and deductable he had to pay the Dr. At times, he plain didnt have it, and his health suffered, putting himself at risk ( thankfully he never had complications, at least when i was with him). In 1995, the average cost of a stroke-related hospitalization alone was estimated to range from approximately $12,000 (5) per patient discharged from the hospital to more than $20,000 (6) for patients with the most severe ischemic strokes (ie, 4 or 5 on the modified Rankin Disability Scale [7]). http://radiology.rsnajnls.org/cgi/content/full/228/3/659 Stroke Costs Reaching Trillions Without Action, Financial Cost of Strokes to Reach $2.2 Trillion by 2050 By Jennifer Warner WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDAug. 16, 2006 -- The financial cost of strokes in the U.S. will soar to more than $2.2 trillion over the next 45 years if no action is taken to improve preventive care or treatment, according to a new study. http://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/20060816/stroke-costs-reaching-trillions Now, i dont pretend to have all the numbers, or the answers. But, wouldnt it be rational to think that preventative care would save millions? Now, on to single payors. I have mixed feelings on this. It makes sense that paying into one system for a hospital or Dr's office would save money. Elimination of paper work and time saved from filing many different forms to different insurance companies, as well as not having to spend time plowing through paper work to find out what insurance company allows what procedures, or even if the Dr is within the patients coverage. And, as hard as i have tried, i cannot find what the operating costs are for any insurance company. It would be interesting to discover how much goes to overhead, how much to shareholders, how much to lobbyists, drug reps ect. I seem to recall seeing a complaint by Workman's Comp over their payouts going up to 12 %, up from 8.something after 9/11 and how the government passed a bill that would prevent that from happening again. My concern here is that they were upset over it going from 8% to 12%. Is WC a profit organization? Im not sure. In the end, preventative care, along with the basics of medical care being provided for.. and.. yes.. dental is just as important.. would be far cheaper than dealing with the system we have. Moving towards a single payor would also be cheaper, provided the system was stream lined. Beyond the basics... then you need insurance, as Calla so wisely posted earlier.
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