Monday, July 30, 2007
Government-run or free-market?
The answer is irrelevant unless costs are contained:The problem is that nobody is going after the root causes of the spiraling cost of care. To simply call for “more free market” or a “single-payer system” without addressing the incredible waste, lack of accountability, and profiteering by third-parties is simply re-arranging chairs on the Titanic. It is the unfortunate nature of politicians to take a politically-motivated veneer and layer it on top of a broken system and call it fixed.So, lets get to the meat of it. Why are health care costs so high? The amount of tests we order plays a large role. Why do physicians order so many tests? Fee-for-service reimbursement, defensive medicine, and patient demand.
Why not address these core issues? Well, a platform of putting doctors on salary, tort reform, and rationing care is a sure way to finish last in the Presidential race.
So in the end, nothing gets solved.
Posted by Kevin |
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Comments:
If physicians got everything they wanted, how many fewer tests would they order and how much cheaper would healthcare be?
You say your tests play a "large" role - well how large?
Basically, that's a nonsense claim. Healthcare should be expensive, at least for some procedures, while others should be cheaper as they become more common. Asking it in terms of this big overarching "how much should it cost overall" merely illustrates that you're thinking of it as a societal right, rather than on an individual basis.
People don't talk about access to architects or lawyers in terms of overall cost, they ask - how much to have this lawyer do this thing, or that engineer do that thing. No one says "The cost of new construction to America is out of control, we as a society must figure out a way to make these services cheaper."
You say your tests play a "large" role - well how large?
Basically, that's a nonsense claim. Healthcare should be expensive, at least for some procedures, while others should be cheaper as they become more common. Asking it in terms of this big overarching "how much should it cost overall" merely illustrates that you're thinking of it as a societal right, rather than on an individual basis.
People don't talk about access to architects or lawyers in terms of overall cost, they ask - how much to have this lawyer do this thing, or that engineer do that thing. No one says "The cost of new construction to America is out of control, we as a society must figure out a way to make these services cheaper."
# posted by 
: 11:12 AM
: 11:12 AM
He's not being ridiculous. The data backs up the claim that over-ordering of tests and poor coordination of care between different providers is a major cost in healthcare. Waste is felt to account for nearly 40% of all the cost of care.
Anon - read the post on my blog and you will see that the pure free-market approach is a pipe-dream.
Gosh, K. You posted more opinion on this one than usual.
Rob
Anon - read the post on my blog and you will see that the pure free-market approach is a pipe-dream.
Gosh, K. You posted more opinion on this one than usual.
Rob
He's being ridiculous because he is referencing a cost he cannot quantify, and proposing solutions which won't solve the "problem".
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# posted by : 2:56 PM
: 2:56 PM
