4 Conundrums That Impede Healthcare Reform

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It is refreshing to read some sensible and well thought-out & researched articles on this health care reform issue. The system we have now totally stinks! And, from someone who has numerous friends worldwide, I can assure you that the percentage of people who abuse the system by running to the doctor for every little thing, is very small. Most people in reality, whether under our system or a socialized one, tend to want to avoid unnecessary trips to the doctor and, if anything, don't pay enough attention to their health. One thing which really irritates me, as someone educated in Economics, are all these people such as Alex Jones and Butch Paul, who seem to think it's great that health care is 16% of our economy. For those people directly employed in health care, such as Alex Jone's dentist daddy, it's a good thing. BUT, for everyone else, that 16% is a drain on GNP and disposable income--which could otherwise be saved or spent on more tangible things that would advance one's material standard of living. So, overall society benefits the most, by having health care consume the LEAST expenditure possible. Don't get me wrong--I do not at all approve of the current plan proposed, but we sure as hell need a new system of some sort in this country...

Brian in WI of WI 2:10PM December 24, 2009

Why we are talking about Health Insurance Reform instead of Health Care Reform? Insurance lobbyists. It's like everything else in Washington. All the Senators and Reps want is the ability to retain their cushy jobs and benefits but that costs money. A lobbyist will pay them to act in their behalf even though this may not benefits their constituency. A little double talk and half-truths during the campaign will muddy the waters and confuse the voters and so it goes! We need legislation to these bllodsuckers out of Washington. There is plenty of data available for our reps to make informed decisions, Were it not for the insurance lobby we'd be talking health care reform, Senators wouldn't be worried about reneging on some previous pay for vote agreement which helped to get them elected. The entire system is a farce. I want real reform that will ensure solvency for future generations but this only ensures future votes for greedy politicians and gross profits for insurance companies.

Mike Smith of MI 2:01PM December 24, 2009

NonLawyer of AZ should reprint his comment with all capital letters and place it on a billboard in front of the Capitol.
Mr Obama is a lawyer so he will NOT reform the litigation yet he should have started there first. Tort reform would have been CHANGE.

Cool place of NC 1:46PM December 24, 2009

1. Reduce litigation
a. Require a showing of gross negligence for malpractice.
b. Cost abides the outcome: loser pays (for both sides) all costs and attorney fees
This has a ripple effect: doctors' insurance premiums go down and unnecessary testing is reduced.
2. Have a special court for product liability; i.e. judges and juries must demonstrate an understanding of science, cause and effect, and relevance before trial. This will prevent, for example, the same $100 board in a home computer from costing $5000 in a heart monitor.
3. Find judges willing to call plaintiffs fools for stupid behavior, e.g. spilling hot coffee in one's lap while driving, using a power lawnmower for trimming a hedge. Apply rule 1.b. to such cases. Add punitive damages for frivilous lawsuits.

NonLawyer of AZ 1:02PM December 04, 2009

A public option for health care insurance may seem like a great answer to our current insurance problems but I can tell you as a medical secretary who has worked in health care for 30 years public health insurance would end up costing billions and breaking the bank. Here is why: look at the current medicaid system. Low income (or at least those who can hide portions of their income) are insured through Medicaid. These people abuse the system to the point of obserdity. They will run to the doctors or on a weekend/holiday to the emergency room for the slightest little thing. They see a medication advertised on TV and decide they need that med because it will "cure " what ails them. They plug up the doctors offices and they demand tests and medications that are in all probability not going to help them at all. Then if the doctor has the courage to deny referral for a test they will threaten to sue. Litigation reform needs to be addressed before anyone can fix the health care mess. Patient education also has to be addressed. It is very clear that those who do not have to pay anything for their health care are a major factor in what is wrong with the system. Reform litigation then work on health insurance. In the mean time maybe those in the medical profession will stand up and do what is right, use common sense and provide good care at reasonable costs.

Jackie of ME 12:32PM October 28, 2009

Myself and three of my friends (all 60-62 years old) have private health insurance policies, carefully selected for the lowest preimium and widest coverage...but get this, NONE of us can afford to go to the doctor! We pay between $440-575 per month, deductable's are $2,000-3,000 plus co-pays of another several thousand and this year we were issued notices saying...."all services must be pre-approved by the insurer in writing" What's this???? I pay $446 (a 12% increase over lst year) for a policy that I can't afford to use due to the $3,000 deductable and NOW no services at all without their written approval???? Lifewise WILL withhold care under this policy! I'm better going without insurance altogether as 50,000,000 other Americans are doing.
I'm a conservative Republican and WANT A SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM!! Screw the greedy SOB'S!

kathryn reitz of OR 1:02PM October 22, 2009

It does not matter what system is in place for paying for health care. If costs are not controlled the system will fail, financially. The core to providing affordable health care to every American is not to make every American purchase/provide health insurance, but to control the COST of health care, in and of itself, by STANDARDIZING health care. Dentistry and, for the most part, chiropractic have done this with great success for years. An appendectomy should cost the same (within 1-2%) regardless of where, in the U.S. it is performed. This should be the same for EVERY procedure performed. Organ transplants should not cost the patient anything: they are performed at teaching hospitals (i.e. already subsidized by the tax payer) and the organs are donated! Doctors' fees should be based on real life wages (doctors at Mayos are employees, paid a salary, and therefore they are not charging horrendous fees for their skills) for their profession. Prescription drug companies must be put into a 'check rein' until they get their costs, to the consumer, under control. Americans are extorted to pay more than the drugs are worth - based on the fact that those same drugs are sent to other countries and sold for 'pennies'.
This is the very FIRST thing that must be done before anything else can be done in the 'health care debate' because nothing is going to work until the costs of health care are controlled. The only way to do that is to standardize health care.
If we are going to do this thing, we need to do it right, and ignoring the basic concept of standardizing medicine is not the right way to do it.

Kathi of WY 11:27AM October 13, 2009

You're analysis was great till you got to this part (3rd to last paragraph):
"Obama and his congressional allies are doing the opposite, aiming for a massive overhaul of the whole healthcare system in the space of weeks."
Nobody's overhauling health care... it's a reform of health insurance.

Amy of TN 4:52PM October 11, 2009

the obame heathcare plan has nothing to do with healthcare or lowering cost. it is all about marxist government take over of health care.

gary powell of AL 2:18PM October 10, 2009

Managed Health Care Created this Problem in the early 1990's!
WE CANNOT AFFORD IT... (and NO, I am Not a Republican, or a Mob Member :))
HealthCare Reform by Our Congressmen Will Only Cost ALL of Us Much More Money with Much Less Medical Care For ALL and then it Will be Dems. Suicide Forever and Ever, For Sure, and For ALL Reps. and Dems. in Congress Now Too!! Just A FACT.
Get Rid of Managed Health Care and Boy-Cott All Medical Insurance and...
Ditto: J.St.Germain of NC
Insurance Inflationary
Abandon the concept of insurance, set up MRA's (Medical Reimbursement Accounts) that would be non-taxable and allow the account holder to spend as he or she sees fit for the specific purpose of maintaining health or paying for medical treatments...this would create an environment of good self-care, create healthy competition between doctors, and generally help to bring costs down.

Yev of TX 8:19AM October 10, 2009