President Obama made an elequent, moving, and logical speech to the joint session of congress, promising to work with them "in the interests of the nation" so that he will be the last President to have to deal with a failing health care system.
The plan he outlined included many sound solutions to the problems in the existing
heath care insurance system, but contained one fatal omission which dooms any plan to failure. It seems the omission was for pregmatic, political reasons, to win
support from the portion of the public which now has health insurance. He made a catagorical promise that if one now had health insurance one could keep it. The only
changes would be provisions to strengthen protections against cancellation, and unreasonable benefit limitations. Here is where the flaw resides! The existing insurance system contains the seeds of destruction and bankruptcy of itself, and the entire economy of the nation.
Medical care is payed for on the basis of fee per PROCEDURE. The providor of care has a list of procedures on which he checks off what treatment was given. Each
procedure has a dollar value. The checked list is forwarded to the insurer who then
pays the total value of the list. Therefor, the more procedures, the more money earned. Gaming the system, plus unnecessary procedures for defensive purposes is
widepread. Recognizing the profit potential, many providers have established their own lab facilities to which they refer their patients. All the incentives are for inflating costs. Insurance company treatment directives often require diagnostic
tests and procedures which the attending physician may believe are not necessary.
Until the reimbursement policy is changed to a single value for effective treatment
based on outcomes, the inflation in health care costs will continue, and at an increasing rate.
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The Government bought the support of the AMA at an estimated cost 0f $215 billions. No more threats to the doctors’ income: the possibility of a reduction in Medicare reimbursements to them (so called SGR) has been eliminated..
Big win by the AMA with nothing offered in return. The doctors can continue to work the system to their advantage. Now they back up Obama.
Permit me a personal note: whenever I questioned some items on my doctor’s bill the office manager dismissed my concerns peremptorily. When I questioned a medical procedure with my doctor I was informed by Certified mail a few days later that the doctor did not want me as a patient anymore.
Obama will get his Bill from Congress to sign.
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