It is not health care costs that are bankrupting the Country, it is Medicare and Medicaid costs. Why? Because Medicare revenue collected through payroll taxes is not keeping up with cost of providing treatment, the cost of equipment, the cost of developing/researching new drugs and treatments and the expectations of what treatment and services should be covered(which is not just about all possible treatments). If you want insurance to cover all it will come at a cost. If you want the latest treatment and tests, many which are new and therefore more costly, it comes at a cost. Non-medical example, the cost of a personal computer was extremely high in the beginning, as more companies came on board and more research and development was done, the cost has come down close to 75% or so. Same thing happens when new procedures, drugs and treatments are developed. The only way to bring down medical costs is to pay providers less, for insurance to cover less, for individuals to pay routine and preventative costs, for people to become healthier and for insureds to be allowed to tailor their coverage to their needs and what they can afford to pay in premiums. Lastly we need more large groups created to cover those with high cost pre-existing conditions and for individuals leaving the work-force or retiring to keep their group health coverage at their current premium.
And, when reimburesement rates are reduced to a point where providers are make no profit or a small profit that reduces their hourly pay below what their education, training and experience should command, they will attempt to make up the difference in other ways. This extremely apparent when you review the average hospital inpatient stay bill. Why are other professionals allowed to charge what they want and believe is fair for their services, without government regulation and intervention? Why is the Federal Government and Private Health Insurance Companies allowed to "set fee reimbursements", something not allowed when it comes to other business types. Well maybe other than Electric Companies and Telephone Companies. (hows that working out for you, saving a bunch on your electric bill and finding it easier to get service?) If de-regulation is so popular shouldn't physicians, surgeons and other medical providers be allowed to charge the fees they believe are fair and that allow them to make a profit commensurate with the services provided? Patients, if smart, would seek treatment from providers that charge the most reasonable fees, provide the best service, have the lowest % of complaints or malpractice cases filed against them. Most of this information is assessable online by visiting various licensing websites, complaint sites, patient forums and by calling several providers in the area to ascertain their fees, payment methods and insurance they take. If more patients would do what I have said above, it would increase competition between providers and especially hospitals and outpatient clinics. Also, if you have no insurance you should ask about setting up an affordable payment plan before chosing your doctor or surgeon. Finally, if you seek "elective treatment or elective surgery", shopping around is very necessary as most insurance doesn't cover elective treatment/surgery. And if you choose to have elective surgery(including plastic surgery), you should get the total cost estimate and worse scenario upfront and once you do you should pay as you agreed as I have no tolerance for patients that fail to pay for elective surgery as many of these patients are the ones that end up in collection.
So your tired of the truth, I got that. And your answer is just everybody has to now get even less. Man I wish I had the health care system they have in Canada or France or Germany If I ever get sick. They do real well for lot less money by their people. Oh and BTW the costs of medicare and medicaid are driiven by the costs of the overall system which is still mainly private. Both medicare and medicaid have much lower administrative costs as they are not adding on a profit layer.
No, you refuse to see the truth. And, Medicare and Medicaid do not have lower administrative costs. Good lord it takes 2 claims processors in the Medicare system to do the job of 1 private insurers claim processor. Because I worked in the VA Hospital system following College, have dealt with processing both Private and Medicare/Medicaid Insurance Claims over 35 years; I can say that the most processing errors that require providers to spend twice to three times longer to process claims; comes from Medicare and then Medicaid. You are wrong. Medicare and Medicaid drive up the cost of Private Health premiums. Even your beloved Obama stated that as one of his reasons for enacting ObamaCare and anyone with any hands on experience in health care administration or research knows that to be true. And, "everybody has to now get even less"? Is that what you think? Because it is definately not what I said. I said you get what you pay for so if you want your coverage to pay for every medical cost, have a low ded. and co-payment you will pay a higher cost for that coverage, and Medicare premiums and co-pays have not kept up with that cost/expectation. The cost of running a private practice/hospital/clinic is not cheap and the cost of Medical School is so high that new graduates are in debt between $200,000 and up and still have to earn further accreditations and gain experience to be paid by Medicare and many private Insurance Companies, in that regard it is not easy to start out. I know way too many doctors who have moved here from Canada and other Countries because they cannot make a living in their respective Countries commensurate to their cost of education, experience, training and associated risk of being sued(whether founded or unfounded) I guarantee that Surgical patients and those with life threatening conditions that reside in Canada and Europe choose to seek treatment here as there wait time and often quality of care is long and poor respectively. The only time we here in the U.S. seek overseas treatment is when we want treatments not yet approved by our Federal Government. Why? because we have so much red-tape that the length of time to approve new potentially life saving treatments is far to long for those near death to wait.
Those that have experience in Health Administration, Claims Processing please reply if you have a comment on my posts. I am tired of those without any actually knowledge by working in the field or with degrees in the field from posting their disagreements without any work experience, first hand knowledge or real education or meanful understanding of how our present system works.
Spoken like a the medical professional you are. I'm sure you think you deserve more money for the work you do. Most people do. I agree that the cost of running a practice isn't cheap and neither is medical school, but I'm very familiar with the medical world having cared for my wife and daughter who both passed from life long illnesses, and the doctors I know have all seemed to somehow overcome these costs. They all drive Porches and vacation in Hawaii every 12 weeks. The cost of health insurance has risen by double digits every year since I can remember. Investors say health care, schools say nurse or doctor! It's a bubble! It's not sustainable! My company has gone to a high deductable health plan (new company and different plan than one had with wife and daughter), so guess what, everyone uses it less. That's rationing of health care. Government health care or not, health care will be rationed, because America can't afford it. I think the problem is ALL of IT. The insurance companies, the drug companies (which BTW have more PACs than any industry), the disconnect between users and payers (because doctors don't want to ask for my money directly), the uninsured, the low payments made by Medicare and Medicaid, and unbelievablyibly high salaries of everyone in the medical field. That's why Obama didn't directly attack doctors and nurses salaries, it's too big to fail! If he cut health care when the economy was already weak it would have sent the country into a depression.
BTW, health care costs ARE bankrupting America! I agree with Max. I would rather have the health care system in Canada, England, France, Germany... We have the best and the worst health care of industrialized nations.
I would suggest that it is the patient that decides to file bankruptcy rather than make payments to pay those that provided health care services to them. Also, I would suggest that if you look at those bankruptcies deemed to be due to "medical debt" you will find that the medical debt monthly payment was only a portion of the debt the individual owed and in many cases the smallest debt owed. Where the bankruptcy is due to disability resulting in the inability to perform a job including a dibilitating illness; you will find that the majority of physicians and hospitals did not seek legal remedies to recover the money owed them and that the individual could also not pay any of the debt they owed as they had no income. In regard to you rather having the health care system that exists in Canada and many European countries; that will require a Universal Health Care System that will dramatically alter the medical system as we know it. That means, fewer physicians and the bar for medical education being lowered(in other words the quality will decrease as fewer individuals apply to medical school). It will require higher taxes by workers and employers to pay the salaries of physicians and the cost of provider services, prescriptions and ancillary services as the patient will bear little if any cost at the time of treatment. You will wait several months if not longer to see a physician, surgery will have to be pre-approved and the decision to approve will be based on cost-effectiveness(including the patients age, chance of being successful in improving the patients life or extending their life) and so on. So, unlike you, I see physician practices, hospitals and clinics as businesses that were more cost-effective and competative before the Federal Government began to interfere. Just as Lawyers, Attornies and other providers of services are free to charge fees as they wish, so should Doctors and other providers be allowed fees as they wish. If they were able to, their fees would go down. And, they would continue to fall if the massive unneccessary regualtions and rules were discontinued. Many of which make no sense other to make the Federal Government money, money that must then be passed on to the patient. We needed Insurance reform for years. For years they were protected under the Sherman Act and other Federal Laws. I suspect because they had both the Democrats and the Republicans in their pockets. Therefore, I am in complete support of the "Patient Protection" portion of ObamaCare.
First, it's not a stretch that have two members of my family die from long illnesses would bankrupt me. I suppose you, out of the kindness of your heart, would not have sought collection. My daughters health care bill was over $2m and while I had excellent coverage (it nearly bankrupted our group) my portion was still hundreds of times my annual salary. Second, with regard to reduced education, I suppose you would think you're a superior doctor to those in Europe? Then why is it than they live longer, have lower infent mortality rates, etc. The required education and residency is classic protectionisum. Make entry into a field more difficult to protect wages. Nurses have been successful in the same. 30 years ago, a degree wasn't required to be a nurse, but now a two year degree is minimum and in some states a four year degree is required. All so you can complain about how much your education costs, the cost of insurance, etc. Sure it's expensive, but it's expensive because everyone is on the take. Everyone in the medical field makes more because of all these government requirements. Like the requirement that doctors meet certain education and residency requirements. Look around though, it's not just doctors, lots of professions do the same thing. The same thing exists in my profession. You are not qualified to do my job. It limits the field of applicants. I make more money as a result. Unfortunately, not enough to pay the high cost of long term medical care. Then again, I've had my income reduced due to the economy. Has yours? While everyone else is suffering some sort of austerity, the medical field does not. Last, I'm sure you do support the "Patient Protection" portion of Obama Care. It increases demand! While it's still difficult to become a doctor, now there's more need for them.
As someone who spent over ten years billing Medicare and Medicare, I'll bite. You are wrong. Very wrong. As long as procedures were coded properly, Medicare payments were fast and efficient. What causes increases in cost is the physicians scheduling unnecessary tests and procedures, prescribing unnecessary medications, and DME fraud. Overbilling in order to squeeze every cent possible out of the government is frequent with a very few, greedy and unscrupilious doctors. The incidence of fraud has decreased significantly under the current administration. Medicaid is different. It was a horror to process Medicaid claims (in Florida). The state will deny claims for minor clerical and other errors that don't affect the patient's care. Each state has different rules and regulations to follow (or not follow). Confusion among providers is intended. It's become so bad that after years of trying to get paid for a claim, physicians and other providers stop seeing Medicaid patients. Dying patients have to wait until the last minute before the state approves care. The simple fact is that, as opposed to the federal government, the state is intent on not paying for care to save money. As a result, people die and/or go without care. Why is this? In the state of Florida, I know why. Our governor wants to privatize Medicaid to line his pockets and those of his cronies, while providing substandard, inadequate care to the patients. The same governor who, ten years ago, bilked the government and others out of $2 billion dollars in the largest health care fraud case in the nation's history.
As someone who spent over ten years billing Medicare and Medicare, I'll bite. You are wrong. Very wrong. As long as procedures were coded properly, Medicare payments were fast and efficient. What causes increases in cost is the physicians scheduling unnecessary tests and procedures, prescribing unnecessary medications, and DME fraud. Overbilling in order to squeeze every cent possible out of the government is frequent with a very few, greedy and unscrupilious doctors. The incidence of fraud has decreased significantly under the current administration. Medicaid is different. It was a horror to process Medicaid claims (in Florida). The state will deny claims for minor clerical and other errors that don't affect the patient's care. Each state has different rules and regulations to follow (or not follow). Confusion among providers is intended. It's become so bad that after years of trying to get paid for a claim, physicians and other providers stop seeing Medicaid patients. Dying patients have to wait until the last minute before the state approves care. The simple fact is that, as opposed to the federal government, the state is intent on not paying for care to save money. As a result, people die and/or go without care. Why is this? In the state of Florida, I know why. Our governor wants to privatize Medicaid to line his pockets and those of his cronies, while providing substandard, inadequate care to the patients. The same governor who, ten years ago, bilked the government and others out of $2 billion dollars in the largest health care fraud case in the nation's history.
Sorry but two years "coding" claims does not make you a expert in regard to Medicare Claims Processing and fraud. The problem is that Medicare frequently makes incorrect reimbursements and the physician/provider has to dispute the payment which takes additional time and often numerous followups and resubmission of documents that support the doctors billing. Also the percentage of Medicare providers that intentionally commit fraud is small compared to the number of providers Your statement seems to imply that a high percentage of doctors and hospitals submit fraudulent claims. There is not one study that supports your claim. Most Providers are honest and if patients reviewed their EOMB's and reported cases of billing for services not rendered, the Government would save money and the cost of identifying fraud would reduced. Unfortunately most patients only become concerned whe they are required to pay a portion of their bill.
If healthcare costs were really bankrupting the country, it begs the question whether Americans can really afford all that care. And now Obama wants to force them all to buy it. While I am not against the idea of investing in preventative care, that is only being used as an excuse by the Democrats to pass their health care socialism.
First of all, you're in Scandinavia! Secondly, the problem is the cost of health care in America. How do you like your health care?
You know I have wondered about this. Is he in Scandinavia? He sure has lots to say about many american policy's which is fine , I just wonder what his connection and interest is in them.
LMOA!!! Ignorance must be bliss? Have you actually spent any real time in Canada, France or Germany? I am an American living in Canada and am amazed by the ignorance many Americans have about Canada's Universal Healthcare. I am speaking only of Canada's UH as I have never been to France or Germany. Here in Canada everyone has UH. But the downside... looong waits (up to 18 months) to see a specialist and for surgeries... shortages of healthcare workers leading to people in some cased turned away from ER's and referred to other area hospitals... there are charges for your doc to fill out paperwork (wife paid 75$ a few months ago)... meds, optical and dental are not covered under UH (those on disability are)... rules and coverage can vary from providence to providence... docs training in Canada where College is cheap, just to move to the U.S. to practice where they can make WAY MORE MONEY... 12% tax in British Columbia (food largely excluded)... As I see it, Canada desperately needs more healthcare professionals as shortages in workers is a huge part of the above problems. But... and this is a BIG but... to hire more workers will take a lot more tax money and taxes would have to go up from the current 12% to perhaps 20%... and workers at all levels would need to be paid batter to help slow the loss of good people to foreign markets. So it is not all universal bliss here in Canada, and I bet if you were to talk to Americans living in France and Germany that you would find that there are problems there as well. There is no such thing as a perfect system. If Americans want UH than Americans need to brace for huge tax increases... or come up with a better way than Canada is doing it. An important point... Canada's average life expectancy is 2 years above the U.S. for what it is worth.
No system is perfect. I'm sure France and Germany have problems just like Canada. I know a nurse that trained in Canada then came to America because the wages were higher. He thinks the Canadian system sucks too, but that's what I would expect from someone that experienced the difference in wages between Canada and America. Sounds to me like America pays too much! Health care workers in America make much more than the average person. That is unsustainable!
Lowering wages would be an uphill battle... but I agree, would be a visible option to offset tax increases. What scares me are the unknowns. I guarantee you that Canada did not in advance see many of the problems that now plague the system. Americans are use to timely medical care. Having to wait for up to 18 months, while suffering from a painful illness... unable to work... while being fed powerful and addictive pain pills while you wait for a surgery... I just do not think Americans would be happy with that. Can Obama or Romney strike a good balance with care vs costs... stay tuned I guess because I'll be (*)(*)(*)(*)ed if I know.
Be glad you're unknown, because you're also wrong. I also worked for my State Board of Nursing for five years and found the above statement suspect. It is. http://www.livingin-canada.com/work-salaries-wages-canada.html http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Registered_Nurse_(RN)/Hourly_Rate What with the currency exchange these rates are about equal. And far from excessive. I guess you're another one who thinks teachers, firefighters and policemen are overpaid too?
sounds to me that you don't think those that are responsible for your life deserve to be paid a wage equal to their responsibilty, training, education. But I am sure you don't have the same feeling about lawyers that can charge per minute, take 60% or more of the money a jury awards their client because they take the case on contingency, or the accountant that can set his own fees or the plumber, electrician and other providers of services that can set their own fees. You get what you voted for when you see providers exiting the Medicare and Medicaid system and see you doctors forced out of private practice and you are forced to wait months to see your doctor or specialist and they spend less quality time with you. Good luck. The rise in medical care costs is due to the greed of the patients/insureds because they want their insurance to pay for everything and for themselves to pay for nothing. That is simply not what insurance was created for. It was created to pay for those catastrophic expenses that the normal insured could not afford. To that end, the policies should be offered to cover the needs of each individual/family including the coverage and the deductible. I agree that we needed Insurance reform that legislated the way an Health Insurance Company could provide coverage and regulated the provisions of coverage. We needed that for years, but they were protected under the Sherman Act and other laws. But for the U.S. Government to mandate that we all carry Maternity coverage and and pay the additional high premiums it requires is unfair and unconstitutional in my opinion. A couple in their late 50s doesn't need maternity coverage and to mandate they pay for it is ludicrist.
And to stay on topic, medical debt is not bankrupting the Country. Medical care providers unlike other "creditors" are more than willing to work with those that owe the money and I have never in my 35+years in Health Admiistration and billing seen a hospital or provider cause the bankruptcy of any patient that didn't have the financial ability to pay their bill. Period Don't believe everything you read and I wouldn't believe any study done by Harvard or any Liberal University. Actually, told both of my College age kids that I wouldn't pay the tuition for them to attend any "elite liberal College or University". They need to be taught both sides of the equation and I refuse to pay for my kids to be brainwashed.
