Comments on: Single payer myths http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73837 Anonymous Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:27:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73837 Evidence that the VA has worse outcomes? You mean as in numbers. Why would I trust them if I saw them. They made up vital signs on my dead patient, why would I trust them to not make up anything else that serves their institutional interest. Fool me once . . Evidence that the VA has worse outcomes? You mean as in numbers. Why would I trust them if I saw them. They made up vital signs on my dead patient, why would I trust them to not make up anything else that serves their institutional interest. Fool me once . .

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73809 Anonymous Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:03:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73809 If single payer goes through and everyone waits, I can't wait to see Wally from the YMCA ahead of Donovan McNabb for ACL reconstruction. Money equals votes and the middle class on up to the super rich is not going to put up with waiting 6 months for a MRI or 18 months for a knee replacement. If single payer goes through and everyone waits, I can’t wait to see Wally from the YMCA ahead of Donovan McNabb for ACL reconstruction. Money equals votes and the middle class on up to the super rich is not going to put up with waiting 6 months for a MRI or 18 months for a knee replacement.

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73808 Anonymous Wed, 11 Apr 2007 03:57:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73808 The VA has done great, all of these stories about Walter Reed are obviously made up. If those things happen in the private sector, market force correct it by putting them out of business. People go elsewhere. When you have no choice and have to go to a certain hospital and physician, exactly what is their motivation for customer satisfaction? And spare me the duty and for the good of the patient retorts. Patients have the trump card now they have their two feet to do the talking. The VA has done great, all of these stories about Walter Reed are obviously made up. If those things happen in the private sector, market force correct it by putting them out of business. People go elsewhere. When you have no choice and have to go to a certain hospital and physician, exactly what is their motivation for customer satisfaction? And spare me the duty and for the good of the patient retorts. Patients have the trump card now they have their two feet to do the talking.

]]> By: Elliotthttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73787 Elliott Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:19:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73787 Eva didn't ask for evidence that the residents didn't like the VA. She didn't even ask for evidence that the patients were unhappy. She asked for evidence that showed the VA had worse outcomes. That will be hard to produce since it doesn't exist.<br/><br/>In fact the very real problems the VA has and will continue to have are because the results are adequate enough (at considerably lower cost) that the Republican Congress kept refusing to allocate desparately needed funds for the explosion in utilization caused by the Iraq war. In other words, the VA gets better results for less money; they get better results for dirt cheap. Eva didn’t ask for evidence that the residents didn’t like the VA. She didn’t even ask for evidence that the patients were unhappy. She asked for evidence that showed the VA had worse outcomes. That will be hard to produce since it doesn’t exist.

In fact the very real problems the VA has and will continue to have are because the results are adequate enough (at considerably lower cost) that the Republican Congress kept refusing to allocate desparately needed funds for the explosion in utilization caused by the Iraq war. In other words, the VA gets better results for less money; they get better results for dirt cheap.

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73786 Anonymous Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:06:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73786 You should become a medical student/resident and rotate through the VA. That's all I need to see. You should become a medical student/resident and rotate through the VA. That’s all I need to see.

]]> By: Evahttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73784 Eva Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:57:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/04/single-payer-myths.html#comment-73784 HMOs are definitely NOT single-payer. But it is indeed easy to find a corresponding target if you want. Look at the VA and the military medical system. They are indeed single payer systems. I eagerly wait for data showing that they are (a) more expensive and (b) have worse outcomes than standard US indemnity plans. I've sure never seen it, but I'd love to. HMOs are definitely NOT single-payer. But it is indeed easy to find a corresponding target if you want. Look at the VA and the military medical system. They are indeed single payer systems. I eagerly wait for data showing that they are (a) more expensive and (b) have worse outcomes than standard US indemnity plans. I’ve sure never seen it, but I’d love to.

]]>