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ORIGINAL: FirmhandKY


An interesting take on the subject:

Midas Muffler, Not Canada is the Model for Health Care Reform
By Robert Weissberg
August 12, 2009

Empathy aside, ObamaCare is an extravagant, wasteful, overly bureaucratized answer to a quandary for which a less costly and more efficient solution that already exists. This solution is, moreover, totally capitalistic, requires minimal government funding, entails no life-or-death decisions made by faceless bureaucrats, nor will it transform the US medicine into bumbling, British-style Socialism-Lite. Though hardly a miracle panacea, it is way ahead of what is on today's Congressional menu.

This solution is "Convenient Care" or, more colloquially, Doc-in-a-Box, since facilities often resemble box-like fast food restaurants. It consists of no-appointment walk-in medical offices with extended hours (including evenings and weekends) with a small staff treating commonplace illnesses. A nurse practitioner runs it, though under a physician's supervision.

...

Convenient care dates from 2000, and use has exploded. That legislators and well-paid healthcare experts have no need for such prompt, cheap services may help explain its invisibility in today's debate. These clinics are represented by a national trade association -- the Convenient Care Association -- and one industry market research firm estimated their number to be 1,200 in 2008 and predicted that this would increase to 2,400 with revenues of $2 billion by 2013.

...

Everybody benefits. Consumers can get their sinusitis, bronchitis, throat infections, urinary tract infections and multiple other bothersome illnesses treated quickly, cheaply at a nearby strip mall or corner Walgreens. Meanwhile small facilities boost walk-in traffic that often bring sales elsewhere in the store.

...

This is free enterprise heaven. That profits come from performing thousands of small services means intense pressure to improve efficiency, while price transparency will make savvy medical shopping akin to buying meat and potato commodities.

...

Moreover, as our examples suggest, convenient care may address two problems that have traditionally perplexed today's medical system -- prevention and follow-up.



Lots of more detailed information in the full article. This was just a taste.

Firm

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An interesting take on the subject:

Midas Muffler, Not Canada is the Model for Health Care Reform
By Robert Weissberg
August 12, 2009

Empathy aside, ObamaCare is an extravagant, wasteful, overly bureaucratized answer to a quandary for which a less costly and more efficient solution that already exists. This solution is, moreover, totally capitalistic, requires minimal government funding, entails no life-or-death decisions made by faceless bureaucrats, nor will it transform the US medicine into bumbling, British-style Socialism-Lite. Though hardly a miracle panacea, it is way ahead of what is on today's Congressional menu.

This solution is "Convenient Care" or, more colloquially, Doc-in-a-Box, since facilities often resemble box-like fast food restaurants. It consists of no-appointment walk-in medical offices with extended hours (including evenings and weekends) with a small staff treating commonplace illnesses. A nurse practitioner runs it, though under a physician's supervision.

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ORIGINAL: Brain

Robert Reich--How To Fight Healthcare Fearmongers And Demagogues

Obama's health care problem is that the legislation is still in the works. It's always easier to stir up fear and anger against something that's amorphous than it is to stir up enthusiasm for it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/how-to-fight-heathcare-fe_b_257825.html

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ORIGINAL: Brain
Fact or Fiction? The Truth About Four Health Care Fears
Among the most hotly discussed issues have been charges that the proposed legislation would create so-called "death panels" to ration care for the old and infirm; that it would use taxpayer dollars to fund abortions; that its passage would mark the end of Medicare; and that it would open the door to socialized medicine. But how accurate are the assumptions?

The White House says some are completely false. One of the most controversial claims in the health care debate is that the health care reform bill would provide for "death panels" to decide whether sick seniors and children with birth defects should receive medical care.

But Johnson said there is no evidence of any such provision in the text of the health care bill. The most likely explanation, he said, is that the rumors of such a provision spring from a misinterpretation of a proposal to offer Medicare patients an optional service known as "advanced care planning consultation."

This provision makes clear this is entirely voluntary for patients; it is not mandatory optional service known as "advanced care planning consultation." "

Most surveys show seniors want this desperately from their doctors, and only very few get it... I think when seniors find out what this is really about, they'll welcome it."

"None of [the bills] say abortions should or could be paid for with tax dollars;
The idea that the proposed health care legislation would eliminate Medicare But Johnson said that seniors need not worry about such a situation.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HealthCare/Story?id=8317197&page=1

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"We are working very hard to avoid unintended consequences by methodically working through the complexities of all of these issues and policy options," Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. "We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly."

Grassley said the end-of-life provision in the versions of the healthcare reform bill under consideration in the House would pay physicians to "advise patients about end-of-life care and rate physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care."

"Maybe others can defend a bill like the Pelosi bill that leaves major issues open to interpretation, but I can't," Grassley added.

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ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth

Hey Brain, ever think it would be wise to see if any of the links has been refuted by fact? Just a suggestion, but it may actually give the side you support a modicum of integrity.

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ORIGINAL: philosophy


If you truly want universal health care, then i suggest you start debating and stop engaging in polemics.........that's Willbeurdaddys job.

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You are actually following any of his links? You really don't need to, you know. He's just screaming into an echo chamber

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ORIGINAL: blacksword404

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ORIGINAL: philosophy


If you truly want universal health care, then i suggest you start debating and stop engaging in polemics.........that's Willbeurdaddys job.

This is the part in the western where all activity in the bar stops and the band suddenly packs up their shit.

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ORIGINAL: LillyoftheVally

FR

Actually a huge issue in the UK at the moment was Palins rather melodramatic claim that the British system of NHS is 'evil' with a wonderful ad over there in the US which uses British peoples opinions without actually having informed them about what their opinions would be used for. I actually think that though there are flaws in our system, such as waiting list, free health care for all is a damn good idea, and I would not enjoy having the US system. It is funny because I will be the first to complain about the problems we have but us Brits seem to have taken a bit of a 'no one hits my younger brother but me' attitude in response to the wonderfully pragmatic words of Palin.

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ORIGINAL: BeingChewsie

What about the english major who took federal financial aid? or the education major? or the engineering major? Why single out health care workers for a year of mandatory unpaid service for taking grants and/or loans available to all citizens? Health care workers are not the only people taking federal funding for education. I would also be concerned that it would unfairly target minorities and lower income families who may find the additional burden of another year without pay too much. We have a major shortage of primary care providers, forcing them to give a year of free work would just make more of them run to the specialities and not choose primary care. Make more voluntary programs that offer 100% loan forgiveness and higher pay to primary care providers for 1, 2 or 3 year term of service and more people will choose it over a specialty.

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

one year service for one year of government funding. and why would it be a bad idea to make it mandatory?

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ORIGINAL: FullCircle

The other problem is the NICE (national institute for clinical excuses.) This body will tell you exactly why you can’t have that drug that’ll save your life usually it goes along the line of (brrrwhat! this drug will only save one person a year but cost 10 squillion pounds!!!).