What a SURPRISE!

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Perhaps expansion of Medicare would be a solution, a Government program mind you. I guess thats one option....

Howard Dean suggests expanding Medicare, but with Medicaid, you have similar contracts set up already with providers that reimburse these providers 30% less compared to Medicare. Why would you set up "free" care for people, and pay providers 30% more (from taxpayer money) than you would providing the "same" care through Medicaid? Makes no sense to me.

Originally Posted by Excaliber

I KNOW, we have to have some kind of reform, not just to limit the spiraling costs but because people are dieing, right now. When the Las Vegas oncology clinic closed, recently, that was a real wake up call for me. Suddenly a couple of thousand people were left with no options, no way to get medication. Those at home, and many were out patients to begin with, will have their medical supplies taken right out of their bedrooms. Oxygen tanks, special beds, other special supplies will be reposessed by the contracted suppliers for non-payment. That is ONE clinic among the thousands in America that are/will be running out of money. People ARE going to die as a result. I feel compelled to do something, like "stump" for health care reform. The problem is FAR beyond the capacity of Churches and non-profits to even begin to address it.

The reason why there is spiraling costs is because there are more older and sicker people than ever. That's the main reason, not that more money is being paid for any given service, but becasue more services are needed. There's no way around it. More care is needed for the population, and it will cost more money. As you pay providers less money for the same service, some providers will opt out, limit their care, provide less of a service, etc. You get what you pay for. You can't buy a CSX4000 for the price of a factory five.

Rationing care has been going on for years. No trauma service, neurosurgery on call at local hospitals because of higher malpractice premiums and lack of reimbursement to providers (hospitals, doctors). Rationing is the way of the Canadian system. My one employee, a nurse, is Canadian, her parents still live there. 5 years ago, her father , 69 yrs old, was admitted to the local (Canadian) hospital with chest pain, ruled in for a MI (heart attack). He recovered in several days. No additional studies were going to be done. As she was a crital care nurse here in the US, knowing the standard protocol for MI's, she had to call the doctor's in Canada and demand they do a cardiac catheterization, which they ultimately did, and found significant blockages. He was sent to another Hospital, London or somethng like that, for a bypass operation. He was told that he was very lucky, as they never see "elderly" men like him getting a bypass operation, which is the standard of care here in the US. 5 years later, now at 74, he continues to work on his farm. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with severe blockages in his carotid arteries, and in the Canadian system, he is not a candidate for a carotid endarterectomy where here in the US he'd be on the table in a week or so if he and his doctor decided to do so. It's just so different. Night and Day. I guess you could say they have death panels there in Canada. Believe me, there are many more stories.

Originally Posted by Excaliber

If 85% have insurance it is NOT acceptable to let the other 15% die because they don't.

My experience is that many of the people without insurance choose so, to have none. Some of my employees, and some of my patients, who are somewhat younger 30-40's would rather have the cash for something else than spend it on insurance. I give my employees the choice of more money or health care. Some choose more money. The poor have Medicaid. Uninsured get urgent /emergent care anyways. It's not as big of a problem as it is made out to be. I;ve never seen someone die in a hospital because they were denied care because of no insurance.

If you really want to have an impact on people dying, much more than the "uninsured", you need to get people to stop smoking, lose weight, and exercise, like I need to do it as well.