[lit-ideas] Re: Guess where the USA ranks in terms of health care
- From: "Julie Krueger" <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:59:45 -0500
Eric (et al) --
This is a hugely complex issue, and although I have some other observations
in response to other posts in this thread (when I'm not sick-exhausted), I
do want to just give a personal perspective re. Medicare, for what it's not
worth.
My husband has his own business, providing out-patient care, mostly
respiratory care. His patients are nearly all elderly and terminal. Those
who are not elderly are largely disabled, thus qualifying for Medicare as
well. A few have private insurance as their primary. People I know pay
upwards of $600 a month for Medicare plus their co-insurance. But back to
our clients. While the costs of the equipment we provide and service w/ all
the attendant expenses in delivery, service, personal care, etc., have risen
steadily right along with the cost of everything else, Medicare has not only
not raised the allowable it will pay providers in over a decade, but their
fee schedule has actually lowered the allowable. It is becoming
increasingly difficult bordering on impossible to provide care for patients
and stay in business, stay solvent. Most of our patients cannot afford
their deductible. My husband "eats" it. If a patient doesn't have a
secondary who will take up the co-insurance, my husband doesn't bill the
patient. When a patient has difficulty qualifying for oxygen therapy, e.g.,
according to Medicare's regulations (if your SA02 is 89% Medicare will not
pay for the therapy, if it is 88% they will, but only for 6 months, etc.),
we provide equipment gratis until (if ever) Medicare will pay, because Jim
cannot bring himself to tell people to take every other breath or stop
breathing.
It is going to be increasingly difficult for people who have Medicare to get
medical care. Medicare will soon become useless because providers simply
cannot exist w/ its remuneration.
Julie Krueger
On Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 2:30 PM, Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Based on informed professional opinions I've heard, lack of health care
> insurance, taken all by itself, is NOT the major problem in US health care.
> Instead, it's part of a complex of interacting problems.
>
> Most places in the world, if you don't have health insurance, you will be
> ripped off. Ghana, Switzerland, Bolivia ... you will be ripped off. That's
> not a special American situation.
>
> For example, in the US, if you have Medicare, you will be billed at
> Medicare rates. If you have Aetna, you will be billed at Aetna rates. If you
> have no insurance ... you will be billed at ripoff rates.
>
> The problem is COST itself. Greed. Greed at hospital and doctor level.
> Lawsuits and laws proliferating largely unnecessary procedures. Bureaucracy.
> If the medical profession in the US can control its costs, health insurance
> itself will be much lower.
>
> Many things impact cost in the US. Take provider greed. Many doctors TREAT
> YOUR INSURANCE RATHER THAN YOUR ILLNESS. In other words, these doctors
> evaluate what your insurance covers and schedule treatments according to
> that insurance. This will continue with or without universal health care and
> continue to exponentially inflate costs.
>
> So while John's cited article/political petition is correct that lack of
> insurance leads to ripoff, the phenomena is part of a larger group of
> problems that universal health care will not address by itself.
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