INCREASE SUPPLY – We need to increase the supply of available Healthcare. As an example, we need to create more doctors in this country by revising primitive training methods and providing financial incentives for those thinking about becoming a doctor. The same goes for everyone looking to enter the medical profession.
REDUCE DEMAND – To do this we have to provide incentives for people to use less healthcare. This might include wellness programs, providing free screening programs, tax incentives for those that don’t use the healthcare system as much etc. In short, reward good behavior instead of the other way around.
FOCUS ON ADMINISTRATION AND TECHNOLOGY – Have you ever tried to read hand written medical records? Or seen the amount of paper involved in maintaining your medical records?
Having been self insured for Workers Compensation for the past 11 years covering about 1500 claims here is what I know.
We have paid about fifty cents of every dollar spent on Workers Compensation claims on administrative expenses and not on actual medical expenses or indemnity costs.
Lots of room here to save money.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO PAY – Nothing is more important than having your health. In this county we expect/demand someone else pay for it. We’ll drop $30K on a new care before we’ll pay $100/mo. towards our health insurance premium.
Those that have employer paid healthcare in either the private or public sectors are perhaps the worst offenders though not of their own making.
Plain and simple, employer paid healthcare is untaxed wages to that employee. So not only does the employee have the benefit of “free” (or low cost) healthcare to draw from, they also don’t pay federal, state, local, FICA, Medicare etc income tax on the benefit. If your employer is paying $12,000/yr for your healthcare, at a 33% tax rate this is saving the employee $4,000/yr. in taxes. And every time your employer has to pay more in the ways of healthcare premiums the employee is in effect getting a tax free raise.
The net effect of this is that large pools of people are paying a tiny percentage of their total income for healthcare.
And we all know how human nature works when something is given out free!
TORT REFORM – Short and sweet, we need to get over the thinking that we are all going to live forever. The medical technology has us living longer that ever but there are no guarantees. Yes, mistakes are made.
But are thy honest mistakes or made out of greed. What about intent? Is anyone perfect? For the life of me I don’t see how any doctor would agree to have a personal injury attorney as a patient.
KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT – One only has to look at the track record of Social Security, Medicare, the Post Office, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and the National Debt to figure this one out.
And the logic that says that by adding 30 million uninsured to the pool will reduce premiums overall is seriously flawed. This approach is in place in Massachusetts and they now have the highest premiums in the country.
I’m done. . . . thanks for listening.
2 comments:
While I respect your opinion and like some of your ideas, I do not agree. I think it is a step in the right direction. And at least today, we are finally doing something for the millions of Americans that have nothing. I have known, and know way too many Americans that have gone without care and in the long run it has costed us a huge amount of money. I know everyone is whining about how much money it is going to cost us, but Hello people, it already does, at least now maybe with some preventative medicine it will be less for us overall.
Thanks for commenting. The two contributers to the Corner Stool write about health care reform because we believe it's a HR issue as well as a topic of concern for all our readers. It's about dialogue not monologue, which is why we like constructive responses like this one.
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