Yup, totally agree.
Some of it is CYA and under our current guidelines neccessary. Tort reform would help address that part. Then there is the more troubling aspect in our example of the older lady, dieing. 27 different "specialists" were involved. A "pap smear" cannot be justified for CYA. A pychologist got his share as well, the patient was "depressed". Her reply, "I'm dieing, yeah, I'm depressed." DOH!!
We can address the CYA procedures, the current borderline fraud is more tricky (pap smear, pychologist, etc.) Outright fraud can and should be addressed by dramatically increasing the number of people who investigate such fraud. Currently they are over whelmed and can only look at the worst of the worst of cases while being aware of thousands more. In other words, Medicare/Medical payment stuctures alone would go a long way toward "health reform". If we do nothing else, lets start there!