Health Care In America Is Going to Change

[Prof]

All three of the remaining candidates have major change in Health Care as part of their agenda.

This can become a great debate in the ensuing years.

We will have some huge decisions to make...

Are we going to put our dollars on the front end of health care to increase the length and quality of life? If we do what will be the effect of longer life on the expense side of the ledger?

Will we be able to accept that all of the effort to prolong life during the last 30 days of life is one of the most serious negative cost impacts on our health care system?

Can we decide to say "no care" to those who do not have the means to pay for health care?

Will we be able to hold people accountable for their decisions about obesity, smoking and other risk factors?

Will providers (hospitals and physicians) be willing to make decisions that are revenue negative but delivery system wise?

Can we begin to understand that outpatient delivery of services can be efficacious, and much more cost effective?

Will we be able to change the culture of the inpatient system...i.e. instrumentation that is so redundant across small geographical areas, between hospitals serving the same market. i.e. 20 or 30 operating suites that are used only 5 or 6 hours a day because of the desire of physicians to only do operations between 5:00 and 10:00 a.m., then the suites are only used for emergency surgery...

I could go on for pages and pages about the problems with our system...I have not even touched on the issue of tort reform which has to occur to lower the cost of health care...but it is the lawyers that have to change that, and they are the recipients of the tort laws...

This will really be interesting and I hope exciting...

 

[Marc T]

I feel we have a relatively good system in place right now, the best in the world!!

We just have to figure out a way to eliminate bogus lawsuits against the medical world. That is whats driving prices up and putting it out of reach for the average employed.

 

[jrgnd]

I believe that the answer is prevention.

I think that you would agree that if most individuals watch their diets, exercise and learn how to manage/avoid stress you would see a dramatic decrease in our medical visits/cost.

With all due respect I have a problem with this statement:

"Will we be able to accept that all of the effort to prolong life during the last 30 days of life is one of the most serious negative cost impacts on our health care system?"

To me, if the patient is responding to treatment, you don't stop treating them. Even if you think that due to other medical conditions they may not last 30 days. That is not for us to decide, that's God turf.

This is specially true to me when the patient is paying a huge amount of money to be treated.

Anyway, I do agree that changes are coming. I am just hoping that they are for the best.

 

[Prof]

Over 60% of Medicare funds are expended during the last month of life...at some point we are going to have to address that dying is a natural process and while we may have the technology to prolong life...a little...does the result justify the expense? Huge moral, ethical, and personal issue.

 

[jrgnd]

Over 60% of Medicare funds are expended during the last month of life...at some point we are going to have to address that dying is a natural process and while we may have the technology to prolong life...a little...does the result justify the expense? Huge moral, ethical, and personal issue.

So I guess we all better become proficient at prevention....

Two questions. What would be the cutoff age? Or what disease treatment would be consider not economically sound?

I obviously don't have the experience that you have, but from the stat that you just posted I infer that we as a society allow our health conditions deteriorate to the point of needing major work done. Kind of Hail Mary play.

Interesting and concerning at same time...

 

[bigike]

Just what we need the government that cant manage the flow of people accross the boarder or any free market duties that it has taken control of. In charge of the biggest and most helpful business in the world........... Great.

 

[ChrisAZ]

Should we allow uthenization of old folks? Maybe Dr. Kevorkian should run for president. The problems all stem from legal issues. Attorneys are the bane of our society. If a doctor doesn't treat an elderly person and lets them die knowingly, he or she will be sued. If they do treat them in vain it is costly. Both ways we lose which is the story of so many situations involving the law and how attorneys prostitute the law. Our legal system is the cause of much of our woes today, even health care.

 

[Bone]

Good topic Prof! We will either sink or float on the outcome of Health care as a Nation.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

There was a movie about Government sponsored euthanasia a long time ago. For the life of me I can't remember/find the title. But once a person was no longer a useful part of society or reached a certain age (can't remember), they were euthanized. It was suppose to be a great event. Everyone wore white robes etc. Does anyone know which film I'm talking about? Maybe with the way my memory is failing, my time is near.

 

[Prof]

Just what we need the government that cant manage the flow of people accross the boarder or any free market duties that it has taken control of. In charge of the biggest and most helpful business in the world........... Great.

Not one of the current candidates for President favors governmental take over of the health care delivery system. Not one. And I think we all agree that they are correct in avoiding that as a solution.

 

[WOT]

Tort reform is the biggest misconception and political lie out there:

President bush during one of the debates in 2004 talked about how we need to put caps on med-mal awards so as to deter frivolous law suits. Caps on awards limits big law suits, not the frivolous ones. Currently in Texas, you have no case if an egregious error was committed as long as it was done in an 'ER' situation. This includes: wrong medication doses that result in instant death, amputating the wrong limb, etc. The hospitals and doctors have no liability in these instances as long as the setting was considered to be an 'ER' setting.

Now, let's move on to planned surgeries: Let's use a planned spinal fusion that is needed because of say an auto accident the year before. If the patient goes through a lifetime of debilitating pain because the doctor left a sponge, or a clamp, or a suture device inside the patient, the cap on the award is $250,000. That's it.

The caps put on med-mal cases has the effect of protecting the doctors and insurance companies in the event of truly incompetent, incomprehensible malpractice. The caps do nothing whatsoever to limit frivolous law suits. They just keep the injured people from getting a decent recovery.

Other protected entities: State or city run governmental agencies. Including Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) buses. If the DART bus runs a red light and kills someone, with the driver of the bus stoned, and his supervisor knows that the guy smokes pot while driving, and the driver admits to doing it because he thinks it's funny, your total limitation of recovery: $100,000. Hey, how about that for a dead child, or wife, or other family member? Oh sure, the driver would probably be brought up on manslaughter charges, but that sure doesn't compensate the family for the loss. DART buses use what, $650,000 worth of diesel fuel in one day? Yet, if they kill someone, you get up to $100,000 max. This does nothing watsoever to deter a $10K law suit for whiplash after the bus just barely bumps you. Or in the cases where a bus has been in an accident and people later board the bus at the scene and claim to be injured. All this does is limit the real cases.

Tort reform will slowly limit the public's access to the court system and to a fair trial. Health care is not expensive because of law suits; that is a total farce. The insurance companies have the republicans in their back pockets and have been spreading this nonsense for quite some time. I am a hard core conservative, but I just can't stand how corrupt the conservative party has become. Check out my wife's blog for more info. She is an attorney (plus she's a hottie....)

http://dallaspersonalinjurylawblog....g-the-nations-dumping-ground-for-bad-doctors/

http://dallaspersonalinjurylawblog.com/

http://www.steelelawfirm.com/

She writes the articles herself.

 

[Prof]

I think tort reform needs to address frivolous suits too.

As a hospital recruiter I saw our malpractice insurance premiums sky rocket for years and years...I also saw incredible judgments for plaintiffs in absolutely stupid situations. (I have also seen incredibly stupid mistakes on the part of health care practitioners...that have gone unpunished. My Father was the victim of a impaired cardiovascular surgeon.)

There are much more significant issues than tort reform...but the failure to have meaningful tort reform causes the practice of defensive medicine which is a problem for all of us.

 

[bigike]

Not one of the current candidates for President favors governmental take over of the health care delivery system. Not one. And I think we all agree that they are correct in avoiding that as a solution.

Take over.......regulate............mandate.............price control......... It's all the same to me.

Free Market and achievement thats the only way it works.

Insurance companies have messed it up. Open it back up to the free market, price shopping will bring it back to what it was and should always be. But that would involve alittle self governing and saving money. Instead we buy srt-10's!

Good trade off for me

 

[bigike]

I think tort reform needs to address frivolous suits too.

Loser pays court cost would kill this problem.

Man I'm full of solutions! I'M A GREAT AMERICAN!

!GO NAVY!

 

[TheSickness]

Soyent Green :rock:

 

[bigike]

IS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Prof]

And some taste better than others...

 

[TheSickness]

And some taste better than others...

LOLOLOL how many have you taste tested Roy

 

[Prof]

None recently...

But I keep trying.

 

[Django]

The issue of frivolous lawsuits is no joke.... Patriculary when the blood sucking lawyers get way more of the settlement than the injured parties.....

Take all the lawyers out and shoot 'em down like rabid fkn scum............

The insurance companies too................

The head of an HMO died and actually made it to heaven.....

St Peter said, "You may enter the Pearly Gates. Just make sure yer out'a here in 24 hours....."

D