The high cost of staying healthy
Some 1000 nurses at local hospitals may go on strike this Monday. Both sides.. management and nurses.. have legitimate arguments in their favor. We can all hope the disagreement can be settled before these vital caregivers feel they must walk off the job. The specifics of that issue aside, I wonder what YOU think of the financial tug-of-war that dominates our healthcare system? We all complain about the cost of healthcare, but no one seems to have the stomach for reform. Capitalism is at the very heart of our economy, yet most Americans would expect hospital profits to be thrown out the door when a poverty-stricken woman arrives at the ER in labor. We hate paying taxes, but taxes pay for the poor woman’s delivery. We hate paying premiums for insurance, but we realize we’re gambling.. and most of us win the bet. But the system is on a collision course with disaster. Insurers are cutting back so severly on payments to doctors, that the doctors must increase their patient load, or go with the new trend, "concierge medicine," seeing fewer patients, who have to be rich enough to afford the upfront cost. Any ideas to fix the system? Two suggestions from analysts: 1. Structure payments to doctors & hospitals on success rates, not on fee-for-service, in other words, how many patients get well?.. and 2. Mandate that everyone have insurance, according to their ability to pay. Surprisingly, that could drive insurance costs down, because it would bring into the system the people who need it the least: healthy young men, who are now the least likely to be insured. What do YOU think we should do, before none of us can afford healthcare any more?
Categories: Medicine
November 30th, 2006 at 11:31 am
i have to have minimum amount of insurance on my car so why not my body?
December 5th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Comparing car insurance to ‘body insurance’ is ludicrous. The amount I pay in car insurance is seldom related to my own driving abilities, it’s in direct correlation to how crappy a driver everyone else is. Insurance isn’t affordable because it’s profit-driven and not result-driven. Since nobody’s willing to take a loss (the insurance companies OR the doctors), we’re all going to lose (the patients). Our family has medical insurance, which we pay dearly for, so that we may enjoy high deductibles and copays with the added ‘benefit’ of a small amount of preferred providers in the network. Other than not getting turned away at area hospitals for ‘lack of insurance’, what sort of benefits do the insured actually enjoy that the uninsured do not?
December 20th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
I would like to applaud the nurses for standing up for patient rights, but I am confused…. teacher’s can’t strike or walk out… what’s it going to take to get people to value a child’s education like we value our healthcare????
March 20th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I heard on the news shortly before the end of last year about a bill that could be passed to make sure every employee receives a 6-day sick pay benefit. I have not heard anything since. Can you please give me info on this subject?
March 20th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I heard before the end of last year about a bill being presented to make sure every employee receive a 6-day sick pay benefit. I have not heard anythng since. Can you please give me any info on this subject?