Top stories in health and medicine this morning, May 7, 2012

The so-called “health costs” include a lot more than those perks. I’ve been pasting this list everywhere I comment, hoping somebody will put it into a full-page national magazine or newspaper ad. 

Here
are a few more expenses, all of which have but one revenue stream — medical
bills.

§ TV ads — some of the most expensive air time for some of the most costly
productions in the ad industry.

§ Mammoth executive bonuses and golden parachutes for both health care
administrators and insurance companies

§ Facilities with manicured landscaping, marble floors, lived plants, flat-screen
TVs in every room, and concierge food service

§ Elaborate accounting arrangements by which large so-called “not 
for profit” health care systems, often augmented by equally large, 
embedded insurance companies (BCBS comes to mind) launder bills mostly 
for the benefit of very profitable clinics, specialty practices and 
device manufacturers.

§”Free scooters” advertised for Medicare beneficiaries. Sometimes 
comes with a free recipe book or lighted magnifier “just for making the 
call!”

§Catered meals and other treats for hungry office staffs, 
compliments of your favorite drug or other supplies sales 
representative.

§And speaking of sales, don’t forget the sales bonuses for high 
performers. The only people in America with no limit to how much they 
might earn are not in medicine or other specialties, but in sales. 
(Investment bankers are in the running, of course, but they are in fact 
limited by how much capital and/or credit they have. Enterprising sales 
people have only transportation, cosmetics and a few other expenses.

§Don’t let’s leave out some red meat for the tort reform crowd — 
legal and accounting services, and a grey area often called “defensive 
medicine.”

With the exception of a dedicated group of community volunteers who provide a few ancillary goods and services, every dime of all that has but two sources:

1.) Medical bills
2.) Government grants for teaching hospitals and research by NIH. (taxes)

What am I missing?
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* Yes, of course. I almost forgot — MEDICAL CARE!

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Don’t you love watching those ED ads where the whole landscape goes tumescent?
That’s a really great special effect, huh?
Makes you all horny just watching.