Duh! Thats what we need to repeal and REPLACE the law with something that will include actual savings and still be somewhat free market based. What if the President actually put together a bypartisan Simpson Bowls like approach to healthcare, like he did for the debt crisis we are currently in. BUT IN THIS CASE, TAKE THEIR ADVICE!
Sarah, Do you remember the meeting held at Blair House when Healthcare was the issue? You had Obama, Pelosi, Reid on one side and the Republicans on the other. Many things were offered on the Republican side including Tort Reform, allowing companies to sell across state lines, creating Pools for the Pre-X and idigent crowd etc. Instead, Obama and his minions completely rejected all these ideas and came up with his Progressive Dream which he couldn’t sell in 30+ speeches so they rammed it down our throats with corrupt buyouts, threats, intimidation and voting on it without reading it. Is it any wonder the majority of Americans think it is trash that needs to be thrown out?
I have a great idea. Let’s “voucherize” education in every state so that we can divert billions from legitimate schools and to private religious schools teaching a strictly Bible-based curriculum and scammy online “schools”. Let’s get rid of all school day time for music, arts, social sciences, science and math, let’s get rid of recess, and let’s spend all of our time preparing kids for “Reading Comprehension” standardized tests. Surely this ingenious approach will result in far more qualified doctors and nurses thus bringing down health care costs for all!
We will also bring down costs by eliminating all government funding for health programs. By eliminating all social safety nets, defunding all public health programs, defunding local womens clinics and eliminating all legitimate sex ed in favor of abstinence-only programs we will surely guarantee a huge reduction in health care premiums. There is surely nothing cheaper than legions of uninsured people who use the E.R. for all services and have extremely high birth rates.
We also need to subsidize all unhealthy foods. The higher the salt and high fructose corn syrup content the better! We should enact a new tax on all healthy foods– all vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, nuts and lean protein should be priced out of the reach of most Americans. We should pass more laws guaranteeing in perpetuity that our kids’ school meals will only consist of pizza, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk, hot dogs, and mac & cheese. We must not feed our children any vegetables or any food which has not been previously frozen and then deep fried.
We should eliminate all exercise & fitness programs, defund all parks departments, and pass legislation outlawing playgrounds on schools. Physical activity might result in injury and must be prevented at all costs. A robust and well fed populace will guarantee future cost reductions!
Let’s also cement legislation prohibiting the government from using economy of scale to negotiate prices w/ the pharmaceutical companies. The government should always pay the full “retail” price for all medications dispensed in any government program. This is the only way we can keep down costs!
We should also probably pass special legislation and force into trade agreements language preventing generic drug competition and forcing governments worldwide to permit the patenting of diagnostic tests, processes, and naturally occurring phenomena like human gene sequences.
Lastly, we should create strong social and economic incentives for thrill-seeking people to abuse highly physically-damaging substances like alcohol, opiate pain killers and antidepressants. Any less profitable substance alternatives that are far safer should be demonized and aggressively attacked with the full force of government at all levels. I recommend watching the exchange between Jared Polis (Senator from CO) and Michele Leonhart (head of the DEA) that took place on June 20 to see in plain view the outright farce of this subject matter.
ExciteBiker, you are onto something here. But you’re forgetting greater tax cuts for the rich and more deregulation of Wall Street. That solves all problems and so why would it be any different towards healthcare? How do you cure cancer? Tax cuts and deregulation, of course. Can we also keep those “alternative lifestyle” people out of the clinics and hospitals? If they aren’t procreating, they are degenerating. Which, is exactly why we should also outlaw post-menopausal women from getting married. Or, anyone who is sterile for that matter. Can we just go back to traditional marriage already? I am seeking out some beach land in exchange for my daughter’s hand.
Planet, You like Biker’s reply so much because it is similar to your book treatises of Progressive nonsense and distortions. Perhaps you guys are joined at the hip and realize you lost the argument some time ago so you take sarcasim to a new level and it is unbecoming to you and others who believe the way you do. You said you were seeking some beach land. I hear Cuba and Venezuela have some lovely beaches and you can pick it up for a song and can take advantage of their wonderful economy and health care.
Agent, believe what you will. Cuba actually ranks better than us in most healthcare categories, such as life expectancy, infant mortality rates, doctors per capita, etc (feel free to fact check me). Excuse a guy for having a little fun. Maybe I’ll check out Australia, good beaches down there. And, a good laid-back lifestyle from what I understand. I’ll invite you down should you ever get sick. Pretty interesting stuff about US healthcare here:
New York, NY, June 23, 2010—Despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall compared to six other industrialized countries—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—on measures of health system performance in five areas: quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. While there is room for improvement in every country, the U.S. stands out for not getting good value for its health care dollars, ranking last despite spending $7,290 per capita on health care in 2007 compared to the $3,837 spent per capita in the Netherlands, which ranked first overall.
Provisions in the Affordable Care Act that could extend health insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans have the potential to promote improvements to the United States’ standing when it comes to access to care and equity, according to Mirror Mirror On The Wall: How the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally 2010 Update, by Commonwealth Fund researchers Karen Davis, Cathy Schoen, and Kristof Stremikis. The United States’ low marks in the quality and efficiency dimensions demonstrate the need to quickly implement provisions in the new health reform law and stimulus legislation that focus on realigning incentives to reward higher quality and greater value, investment in preventive care, and expanding the use of health information technology.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising that, despite our significant investment in health care, the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries,” said Commonwealth Fund President and lead author Karen Davis. “With enactment of the Affordable Care Act, however, we have entered a new era in American health care. We will begin strengthening primary care and investing in health information technology and quality improvement, ensuring that all Americans can obtain access to high quality, efficient health care.”
Earlier editions of the report, produced in 2004, 2006, and 2007, showed similar results. This year’s version incorporates data from patient and physician surveys conducted in seven countries in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Key findings include:
On measures of quality the United States ranked 6th out of 7 countries. On two of four measures of quality—effective care and patient-centered care—the U.S. ranks in the middle (4th out of 7 countries). However, the U.S. ranks last when it comes to providing safe care, and next to last on coordinated care. U.S. patients with chronic conditions are the most likely to report being given the wrong medication or the wrong dose of their medication, and experiencing delays in being notified about an abnormal test result.
On measures of efficiency, the U.S ranked last due to low marks when it comes to spending on administrative costs, use of information technology, re-hospitalization, and duplicative medical testing. Nineteen percent of U.S. adults with chronic conditions reported they visited an emergency department for a condition that could have been treated by a regular doctor, had one been available, more than three times the rate of patients in Germany or the Netherlands (6%).
On measures of access to care, people in the U.S. have the hardest time affording the health care they need—with the U.S. ranking last on every measure of cost-related access problems. For example, 54 percent of adults with chronic conditions reported problems getting a recommended test, treatment or follow-up care because of cost. In the Netherlands, which ranked first on this measure, only 7 percent of adults with chronic conditions reported this problem.
On measures of healthy lives, the U.S. does poorly, ranking last when it comes to infant mortality and deaths before age 75 that were potentially preventable with timely access to effective health care, and second to last on healthy life expectancy at age 60.
On measures of equity, the U.S. ranks last. Among adults with chronic conditions almost half (45%) with below average incomes in the U.S. reported they went without needed care in the past year because of costs, compared with just 4 percent in the Netherlands. Lower-income U.S. adults with chronic conditions were significantly more likely than those in the six other countries surveyed to report not going to the doctor when they’re sick, not filling a prescription, or not getting recommended follow-up care because of costs.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the Commonwealth Fund 2007 International Health Policy Survey, conducted by telephone in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the 2008 International Health Policy Survey of Sicker Adults, conducted in the same seven countries plus France; the Commonwealth Fund 2009 International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Physicians, conducted in the same eight countries plus Italy, Norway, and Sweden; the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Health Data 2009; and World Health Organization mortality and population statistics for 2002-03. The 2007 Commonwealth Fund survey focuses on the primary care experiences of nationally representative samples of adults ages 18 and older in the seven countries. The 2008 survey targets a representative sample of “sicker adults,” defined as those who rated their health status as fair or poor, had a serious illness in the past two years, had been hospitalized for something other than a normal delivery, or had undergone major surgery in the past two years. The 2009 survey looks at the experiences of primary care physicians.
Planet, Perhaps I should download your post on my kindle since it resembles a book rather than an internet post. I really have to laugh at some of this nonsense you put out about how many countries have exceeded us in health care. Perhaps you haven’t seen the article about the UK euthenizing 130,000 elderly patients each year. They bring them into the hospital and put them on the “path to death”. Many of them are treatable, but no treatment is afforded and they die. HMMM! If all these countries have such great health care, how come they keep coming to this country for life saving operations because they are either on a very long list awaiting surgery or it isn’t available there. I will agree that Health care is expensive here because of many factors such as Malpractice insurance and fear of getting sued so they run endless tests practicing defensive medicine. Of course, we just couldn’t have Tort Reform in the wonderful 2,700 pages of Obamacare because that would kill the goose that laid the golden egg. I could go on, but don’t want to write a treatise like you have.
We do have the best healthcare in the world if you can afford it. But, more and more Americans are actually taking medical vacations to places like India to be treated these days than wealthy individuals coming here for a surgery. What’s going on in the UK is wrong. I don’t know anyone out there that would argue what they are doing is ethical. Doesn’t surprise me about that country. They think dental work is cosmetic. Give me a break! But, you cannot argue against the facts showing life expectancy, infant mortality, and the like. They are statistical truths. We’re euthanizing each day with pre-existing conditions and not insuring all Americans as well. I’d hate to see the number of Americans that day each year that go untreated due to being denied coverage or not being able to afford the necessary treatment. My guess is it is much larger than 130,000. Again, that’s just a guess, I don’t have anything to back that up.
Planet, as usual, you are drawing the wrong conclusions about what is going on. I have not seen one shred of evidence that this country is turning away people from treatment and they are dying on a massive scale like Great Britain. Also, please remember that Great Britain is a country of a maximum of 40 million people which is around 13% of our population. By the way, they have laid off a lot of their healthcare workers because the system is broke so their rationed approach to healthcare is getting only worse. The poor Brits over there will have a much shorter life expectancy due to lack of treatment. One of their leading golf pros, Lee Westwood has announced he is moving to Florida with his family so he can advance his career and it is best for his family to be in the US for all the obvious reasons.
Agent, as usual, we don’t agree. You do have to admit people are denied insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions. And, there are cases which this denial has direct causation to someone’s death, unless he/she can afford the treatment without the assistance of insurance. No, people aren’t turned away by the doctor. She takes an oath. But, eventually the patient goes bankrupt and can’t afford the treatment any longer. #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US? Medical bills. In some cases, this isn’t just killing the patient, but it’s destroying the family at large. It’s tragic. I agree, tort reform should be part of the overall reform. But, that’s not the sole reason why our healthcare system fails in comparison to many others.
Have a good weekend, Agent. It’s always good to have your perspective.
There is no doubt Planet that our opinions rarely agree on this topic. I do admire your persistence. Have I ever had someone turned down for health insurance due to Pre X? Sure I have. Has anyone ever gone bankrupt because of medical bills? I am sure there have been many. Does that justify bankrupting a whole country by implementing this bill? Certainly not! This legislation could have been done in less than 100 pages with private market solutions, putting the Pre X’s and Indigents in state run Pools for a fraction of the cost all the while doing Tort Reform, allowing companies to sell across state lines to create competition among carriers to lower cost. Instead, we ended up with a one size fits all monstrocity guaranteed to increase costs, increases taxes and we will end up with a single payor system of Medicaid like coverage for everyone with rationed care. It is an unbelievably bad piece of legislation and we hope the Supreme Court in their wisdom will throw it all out and go back to the drawing board with something that makes sense and preserves freedom of choice.
The reason that healthcare costs continue going up is the expensive and inefficient U.S. healthcare delivery system. The consequences of the fee-for-service model put an unnecessary financial burden on patients and employers and raise the overall cost of healthcare.
Kathryn, You have a very simplistic answer to why Healthcare costs continue to escalate. There are dozens of reasons why it is going up. Government involvement is one of the biggest culprits. The doctors, hospitals have to practice defensive medicine so they run numerous tests for fear of Malpractice suits because Obamacare did not have Tort Reform in the bill. If you think the fee for service model is inefficient, try the government model and then you will see real inefficiency. Companies are raising prices because of fear of what is coming down the pike with everything they will have to cover and an inadequate rate for coverage.
Duh! Thats what we need to repeal and REPLACE the law with something that will include actual savings and still be somewhat free market based. What if the President actually put together a bypartisan Simpson Bowls like approach to healthcare, like he did for the debt crisis we are currently in. BUT IN THIS CASE, TAKE THEIR ADVICE!
Sarah, Do you remember the meeting held at Blair House when Healthcare was the issue? You had Obama, Pelosi, Reid on one side and the Republicans on the other. Many things were offered on the Republican side including Tort Reform, allowing companies to sell across state lines, creating Pools for the Pre-X and idigent crowd etc. Instead, Obama and his minions completely rejected all these ideas and came up with his Progressive Dream which he couldn’t sell in 30+ speeches so they rammed it down our throats with corrupt buyouts, threats, intimidation and voting on it without reading it. Is it any wonder the majority of Americans think it is trash that needs to be thrown out?
I have a great idea. Let’s “voucherize” education in every state so that we can divert billions from legitimate schools and to private religious schools teaching a strictly Bible-based curriculum and scammy online “schools”. Let’s get rid of all school day time for music, arts, social sciences, science and math, let’s get rid of recess, and let’s spend all of our time preparing kids for “Reading Comprehension” standardized tests. Surely this ingenious approach will result in far more qualified doctors and nurses thus bringing down health care costs for all!
We will also bring down costs by eliminating all government funding for health programs. By eliminating all social safety nets, defunding all public health programs, defunding local womens clinics and eliminating all legitimate sex ed in favor of abstinence-only programs we will surely guarantee a huge reduction in health care premiums. There is surely nothing cheaper than legions of uninsured people who use the E.R. for all services and have extremely high birth rates.
We also need to subsidize all unhealthy foods. The higher the salt and high fructose corn syrup content the better! We should enact a new tax on all healthy foods– all vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, nuts and lean protein should be priced out of the reach of most Americans. We should pass more laws guaranteeing in perpetuity that our kids’ school meals will only consist of pizza, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk, hot dogs, and mac & cheese. We must not feed our children any vegetables or any food which has not been previously frozen and then deep fried.
We should eliminate all exercise & fitness programs, defund all parks departments, and pass legislation outlawing playgrounds on schools. Physical activity might result in injury and must be prevented at all costs. A robust and well fed populace will guarantee future cost reductions!
Let’s also cement legislation prohibiting the government from using economy of scale to negotiate prices w/ the pharmaceutical companies. The government should always pay the full “retail” price for all medications dispensed in any government program. This is the only way we can keep down costs!
We should also probably pass special legislation and force into trade agreements language preventing generic drug competition and forcing governments worldwide to permit the patenting of diagnostic tests, processes, and naturally occurring phenomena like human gene sequences.
Lastly, we should create strong social and economic incentives for thrill-seeking people to abuse highly physically-damaging substances like alcohol, opiate pain killers and antidepressants. Any less profitable substance alternatives that are far safer should be demonized and aggressively attacked with the full force of government at all levels. I recommend watching the exchange between Jared Polis (Senator from CO) and Michele Leonhart (head of the DEA) that took place on June 20 to see in plain view the outright farce of this subject matter.
ExciteBiker, you are onto something here. But you’re forgetting greater tax cuts for the rich and more deregulation of Wall Street. That solves all problems and so why would it be any different towards healthcare? How do you cure cancer? Tax cuts and deregulation, of course. Can we also keep those “alternative lifestyle” people out of the clinics and hospitals? If they aren’t procreating, they are degenerating. Which, is exactly why we should also outlaw post-menopausal women from getting married. Or, anyone who is sterile for that matter. Can we just go back to traditional marriage already? I am seeking out some beach land in exchange for my daughter’s hand.
Planet, You like Biker’s reply so much because it is similar to your book treatises of Progressive nonsense and distortions. Perhaps you guys are joined at the hip and realize you lost the argument some time ago so you take sarcasim to a new level and it is unbecoming to you and others who believe the way you do. You said you were seeking some beach land. I hear Cuba and Venezuela have some lovely beaches and you can pick it up for a song and can take advantage of their wonderful economy and health care.
Agent, believe what you will. Cuba actually ranks better than us in most healthcare categories, such as life expectancy, infant mortality rates, doctors per capita, etc (feel free to fact check me). Excuse a guy for having a little fun. Maybe I’ll check out Australia, good beaches down there. And, a good laid-back lifestyle from what I understand. I’ll invite you down should you ever get sick. Pretty interesting stuff about US healthcare here:
New York, NY, June 23, 2010—Despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall compared to six other industrialized countries—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—on measures of health system performance in five areas: quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. While there is room for improvement in every country, the U.S. stands out for not getting good value for its health care dollars, ranking last despite spending $7,290 per capita on health care in 2007 compared to the $3,837 spent per capita in the Netherlands, which ranked first overall.
Provisions in the Affordable Care Act that could extend health insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans have the potential to promote improvements to the United States’ standing when it comes to access to care and equity, according to Mirror Mirror On The Wall: How the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally 2010 Update, by Commonwealth Fund researchers Karen Davis, Cathy Schoen, and Kristof Stremikis. The United States’ low marks in the quality and efficiency dimensions demonstrate the need to quickly implement provisions in the new health reform law and stimulus legislation that focus on realigning incentives to reward higher quality and greater value, investment in preventive care, and expanding the use of health information technology.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising that, despite our significant investment in health care, the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries,” said Commonwealth Fund President and lead author Karen Davis. “With enactment of the Affordable Care Act, however, we have entered a new era in American health care. We will begin strengthening primary care and investing in health information technology and quality improvement, ensuring that all Americans can obtain access to high quality, efficient health care.”
Earlier editions of the report, produced in 2004, 2006, and 2007, showed similar results. This year’s version incorporates data from patient and physician surveys conducted in seven countries in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Key findings include:
On measures of quality the United States ranked 6th out of 7 countries. On two of four measures of quality—effective care and patient-centered care—the U.S. ranks in the middle (4th out of 7 countries). However, the U.S. ranks last when it comes to providing safe care, and next to last on coordinated care. U.S. patients with chronic conditions are the most likely to report being given the wrong medication or the wrong dose of their medication, and experiencing delays in being notified about an abnormal test result.
On measures of efficiency, the U.S ranked last due to low marks when it comes to spending on administrative costs, use of information technology, re-hospitalization, and duplicative medical testing. Nineteen percent of U.S. adults with chronic conditions reported they visited an emergency department for a condition that could have been treated by a regular doctor, had one been available, more than three times the rate of patients in Germany or the Netherlands (6%).
On measures of access to care, people in the U.S. have the hardest time affording the health care they need—with the U.S. ranking last on every measure of cost-related access problems. For example, 54 percent of adults with chronic conditions reported problems getting a recommended test, treatment or follow-up care because of cost. In the Netherlands, which ranked first on this measure, only 7 percent of adults with chronic conditions reported this problem.
On measures of healthy lives, the U.S. does poorly, ranking last when it comes to infant mortality and deaths before age 75 that were potentially preventable with timely access to effective health care, and second to last on healthy life expectancy at age 60.
On measures of equity, the U.S. ranks last. Among adults with chronic conditions almost half (45%) with below average incomes in the U.S. reported they went without needed care in the past year because of costs, compared with just 4 percent in the Netherlands. Lower-income U.S. adults with chronic conditions were significantly more likely than those in the six other countries surveyed to report not going to the doctor when they’re sick, not filling a prescription, or not getting recommended follow-up care because of costs.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the Commonwealth Fund 2007 International Health Policy Survey, conducted by telephone in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the 2008 International Health Policy Survey of Sicker Adults, conducted in the same seven countries plus France; the Commonwealth Fund 2009 International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Physicians, conducted in the same eight countries plus Italy, Norway, and Sweden; the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Health Data 2009; and World Health Organization mortality and population statistics for 2002-03. The 2007 Commonwealth Fund survey focuses on the primary care experiences of nationally representative samples of adults ages 18 and older in the seven countries. The 2008 survey targets a representative sample of “sicker adults,” defined as those who rated their health status as fair or poor, had a serious illness in the past two years, had been hospitalized for something other than a normal delivery, or had undergone major surgery in the past two years. The 2009 survey looks at the experiences of primary care physicians.
Planet, Perhaps I should download your post on my kindle since it resembles a book rather than an internet post. I really have to laugh at some of this nonsense you put out about how many countries have exceeded us in health care. Perhaps you haven’t seen the article about the UK euthenizing 130,000 elderly patients each year. They bring them into the hospital and put them on the “path to death”. Many of them are treatable, but no treatment is afforded and they die. HMMM! If all these countries have such great health care, how come they keep coming to this country for life saving operations because they are either on a very long list awaiting surgery or it isn’t available there. I will agree that Health care is expensive here because of many factors such as Malpractice insurance and fear of getting sued so they run endless tests practicing defensive medicine. Of course, we just couldn’t have Tort Reform in the wonderful 2,700 pages of Obamacare because that would kill the goose that laid the golden egg. I could go on, but don’t want to write a treatise like you have.
We do have the best healthcare in the world if you can afford it. But, more and more Americans are actually taking medical vacations to places like India to be treated these days than wealthy individuals coming here for a surgery. What’s going on in the UK is wrong. I don’t know anyone out there that would argue what they are doing is ethical. Doesn’t surprise me about that country. They think dental work is cosmetic. Give me a break! But, you cannot argue against the facts showing life expectancy, infant mortality, and the like. They are statistical truths. We’re euthanizing each day with pre-existing conditions and not insuring all Americans as well. I’d hate to see the number of Americans that day each year that go untreated due to being denied coverage or not being able to afford the necessary treatment. My guess is it is much larger than 130,000. Again, that’s just a guess, I don’t have anything to back that up.
Planet, as usual, you are drawing the wrong conclusions about what is going on. I have not seen one shred of evidence that this country is turning away people from treatment and they are dying on a massive scale like Great Britain. Also, please remember that Great Britain is a country of a maximum of 40 million people which is around 13% of our population. By the way, they have laid off a lot of their healthcare workers because the system is broke so their rationed approach to healthcare is getting only worse. The poor Brits over there will have a much shorter life expectancy due to lack of treatment. One of their leading golf pros, Lee Westwood has announced he is moving to Florida with his family so he can advance his career and it is best for his family to be in the US for all the obvious reasons.
That was supposed to read, “number of Americans that die each year”, not ‘day’. Must be Friday, I’m ready to get out of here.
Agent, as usual, we don’t agree. You do have to admit people are denied insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions. And, there are cases which this denial has direct causation to someone’s death, unless he/she can afford the treatment without the assistance of insurance. No, people aren’t turned away by the doctor. She takes an oath. But, eventually the patient goes bankrupt and can’t afford the treatment any longer. #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US? Medical bills. In some cases, this isn’t just killing the patient, but it’s destroying the family at large. It’s tragic. I agree, tort reform should be part of the overall reform. But, that’s not the sole reason why our healthcare system fails in comparison to many others.
Have a good weekend, Agent. It’s always good to have your perspective.
There is no doubt Planet that our opinions rarely agree on this topic. I do admire your persistence. Have I ever had someone turned down for health insurance due to Pre X? Sure I have. Has anyone ever gone bankrupt because of medical bills? I am sure there have been many. Does that justify bankrupting a whole country by implementing this bill? Certainly not! This legislation could have been done in less than 100 pages with private market solutions, putting the Pre X’s and Indigents in state run Pools for a fraction of the cost all the while doing Tort Reform, allowing companies to sell across state lines to create competition among carriers to lower cost. Instead, we ended up with a one size fits all monstrocity guaranteed to increase costs, increases taxes and we will end up with a single payor system of Medicaid like coverage for everyone with rationed care. It is an unbelievably bad piece of legislation and we hope the Supreme Court in their wisdom will throw it all out and go back to the drawing board with something that makes sense and preserves freedom of choice.
The reason that healthcare costs continue going up is the expensive and inefficient U.S. healthcare delivery system. The consequences of the fee-for-service model put an unnecessary financial burden on patients and employers and raise the overall cost of healthcare.
Kathryn, You have a very simplistic answer to why Healthcare costs continue to escalate. There are dozens of reasons why it is going up. Government involvement is one of the biggest culprits. The doctors, hospitals have to practice defensive medicine so they run numerous tests for fear of Malpractice suits because Obamacare did not have Tort Reform in the bill. If you think the fee for service model is inefficient, try the government model and then you will see real inefficiency. Companies are raising prices because of fear of what is coming down the pike with everything they will have to cover and an inadequate rate for coverage.