| Sep 12 @ 10:38 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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lefthandedluckie
Posts: 6,386
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This Doctor is from my area in Kentucky. Interesting letter that in my opinion hits the major problems on the mark. Up to and including the major reason for the rise in the costs of health care!
A Doctor's reasoning for the spiraling costs and what to do to stop them!!
This Doctor is absolutely correct in his assumption!
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| Sep 13 @ 12:51 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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BandTMom
Posts: 38,061
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Good article, Lucky! Thanks! 
Having worked in hospitals for the past 16 years, I know exactly why health care costs are sky rocketing. This article accurately describes one.
The comments were interesting too. If people think the costs are increasing because doctors are lining their pockets, they are sadly mistaken.
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| Sep 13 @ 12:59 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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Undocumented immigrants have driven up the number of people without health insurance. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 59% of the nation's illegal immigrants are uninsured, compared with 25% of legal immigrants and 14% of U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants represent about 15% of the nation's 47 million uninsured people.
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| Sep 13 @ 2:12 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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Nightowl001
Posts: 7,506
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Illegal immigrants represent about 15% Given that newer estimates are that the numbers of the uninsured have already swelled to 50 million, 15% of that is 7.5 million illegals. True, not an insignificant number, but getting them out of the system is only a small portion... well, 15%, of the problem. The 42+ million American citizens without health insurance are still not covered by that.
Sure, I'd like to see 100% of the problem addressed. But solving 85% of the problem is preferable (to my way of thinking) than solving 15% of it. Clearly leaving no American citizen without insurance will go a lot further toward helping control healthcare costs than focusing on such a small part of the problem.
Illegal aliens are a different problem altogether than the overall problem with healthcare coverage in this country.
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| Sep 13 @ 9:58 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 13,662
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Thus is set in motion the unrelenting, upward spiral of ever-increasing medical costs.
The uninsured numbers are constantly increasing.
The unreimbursed expenses incurred by hospitals in treating those ever-increasing numbers of the uninsured are constantly increasing.
Hospitals must increase their charges in order to cover the ever-increasing costs of treating the uninsured.
Medical insurance companies must increase the premiums of those they insure in order to pay for the increased hospital charges when their insureds seek treatment.
Each time insurance premiums increase, another portion of the population opts out of carrying insurance. Individuals or companies reach a point, finally, when they can no longer afford insurance, and individual policyholders or employees of companies which drop their benefits enter into the pool of the uninsured.
More uninsured people = increased, unreimbursed hospital costs = increased hospital charges = increased insurance premiums = more uninsured people.... The upward spiral is incessant.
The pressure created by the ever-increasing number of the uninsured is the driving force behind the ever-increasing cost of medical care in the United States. That force is unrelenting. It can only accelerate. It has created a system which is unsustainable.
Other than refusing to offer treatment to those who are uninsured, there is no mathematical model which can be proposed that can slow or halt the inevitable, continuing rise in healthcare costs without removing the uninsured from the equation and including them in the system.
If we fail to address the underlying reason for the situation we find ourselves in, the ever-increasing numbers of the uninsured, the medical care delivery system, severely strained at present, will eventually break.
No rational person on either side of the aisle could want that to happen.
so where is the problem...Obama is trying to fix this...
but.. blanket statements like...
If people think the costs are increasing because doctors are lining their pockets, they are sadly mistaken.
have no place in the discussion..as some are..and some are not...
The 58-year-old cardiologist has scooped up six of his eight hospitals in the last two years and could take over as many as six more in the coming months.
The buying spree is making his company one of the largest hospital owners in the state, placing it in a position to challenge industry leaders including Kaiser Permanente and Catholic Healthcare West.
"There's a lot of sacrifice in a doctor's life," Reddy said, over the whir of the chopper's blades. "But there are many rewards."
What is more extraordinary is how Reddy is building his empire. Modern healthcare is largely based on the model in which insurers seek to control costs by paying fixed amounts to doctors and hospitals. Reddy is tearing that down.
When Reddy's company, Prime Healthcare Services Inc., takes over a hospital, it typically cancels insurance contracts, allowing the hospital to collect steeply higher reimbursements. It has suspended services -- such as chemotherapy treatments, mental health care and birthing centers -- that patients need but aren't lucrative.
Critics say Reddy-owned hospitals routinely turn away uninsured patients, an allegation the company denies.
On four occasions since 2002, inspectors have found that Prime Healthcare facilities failed to meet minimum federal safety standards, placing their Medicare funding at risk.
Records show that in one two-hour period during 2003, three uninsured patients left the emergency room at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville after waiting up to four hours without being treated. Two of them were under 2 years old, including a 16-month-old girl who arrived with burns on her left hand.
The same year, Reddy discharged an uninsured patient he was personally treating who was in kidney failure, suggesting that the patient go to a nearby county facility where he could sign up for free care. The patient waited until the following day to visit another emergency room, records show.
..........the picture is always bigger than what is in front of your face...
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| Sep 13 @ 10:35 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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lacyvsq
Posts: 6,173
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The doctor is on the right track, but missed the essential cause -- even after he said what it was!
Anytime an uninsured person enters a hospital emergency department and registers in, the minute they cross the threshold, the hospital is mandated to (1) evaluate, and (2) make a disposition of the individual.
**************
If the hospital is unwilling to evaluate and make a disposition, it will lose reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid programs, which is tantamount to financial suicide.
The problem is government intervention to the point where it can cause financial suicide. The solution is stop tying governmental obligations to outside contracts. Mandating/demanding services to third parties to is a violation of the spirit of the third amendment and a total violation of the fourth amendment. It is slavery by another name.
Take away the government mandates and the uninsured - particularly the undocumented aliens - will no longer be a factor in the rising costs of medical care. With iatrogenic sources the second leading cause of death in the US, keeping uninsured people out of the ER will probably lower the death rate. Charity providers will pick up the truly needy.
[Edited on 9/13/2009 10:42 AM]
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| Sep 13 @ 11:02 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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Loreli
Posts: 25,413
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Who are the charity providers other than free clinics?
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| Sep 13 @ 11:10 AM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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lacyvsq
Posts: 6,173
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Well, in Houston it is St. Lukes, St. Joseph's, Methodist, and Hermann Hospitals, just off the top of my head...
There is a chiropractic clinic here that operates on a pay as you are felt led basis.
There is a multitude of doctors who provide their services for free to the needy on a case-by-case basis.
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| Sep 13 @ 3:58 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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katydid438
Posts: 8,023
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A Doctor's reasoning for the spiraling costs and what to do to stop them!! ...this is the clearest explanation I have seen yet
If the hospital is unwilling to evaluate and make a disposition, it will lose reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid programs, which is tantamount to financial suicide. ....these funds are needed for day to day operation of any hospital,,,do you think that private insurance companies want to cut into their profits for something that could be covered by the government,,,no way,,they want their cake and eat it too...my gawd,,what would the shareholders do?  ...probably increase the list of conditions/pre-existing conditions not covered
With iatrogenic sources the second leading cause of death in the US, keeping uninsured people out of the ER will probably lower the death rate. ..insured persons could also fall into this category!
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| Sep 13 @ 4:15 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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katydid438
Posts: 8,023
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Lacy,
i·at·ro·gen·ic (-tr-jnk)
adj.
Induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of an infection or other complication of treatment.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. .
.....should we take this to mean that the uninsured get sub-standard quality health care compared to the insured , when they present to the ER?
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| Sep 13 @ 4:42 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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lacyvsq
Posts: 6,173
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....should we take this to mean that the uninsured get sub-standard quality health care compared to the insured , when they present to the ER?
No. I would like the government out of determining who gets medical care and how much (or little) it costs. Those that see merit in government forcing hospitals to serve non-payers (by threatening to be the biggest of non-payers) would say that being poor would therefore be a death-sentence. I am just pointing out that going to the hospital can be deadly anyway. Perhaps by denying the poor (assuming the uninsured are poor), lives will actually be saved -- those that would have suffered iatrogenic maladies.
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| Sep 13 @ 4:54 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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Loreli
Posts: 25,413
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Those that see merit in government forcing hospitals to serve non-payers (by threatening to be the biggest of non-payers) would say that being poor would therefore be a death-sentence. I am just pointing out that going to the hospital can be deadly anyway. Perhaps by denying the poor (assuming the uninsured are poor), lives will actually be saved
I'm sorry-this did not make sense.
But I get your drift........and it's always easy for one in THIS position to piss on THAT position.
Just pray nothing happens to you.
I say free clinic for minor and treat major at the hospital.
Paying or not....people have a right to live.
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| Sep 13 @ 5:31 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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lacyvsq
Posts: 6,173
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Paying or not....people have a right to live.
They should also have a right to live free...free to decide whether they will offer services to everyone who presents or only to those who pay or only to those whom they choose -- paying or not.
Frankly, if I went to the ER in need of services, I would rather have a doctor who did not look on me as one whom he was forced to examine and treat because else he would no longer receive government payments.
and it's always easy for one in THIS position to piss on THAT position.
Just pray nothing happens to you.
I am sorry that you see me in a position to piss on anyone. I freely give my services -- mostly where and when I choose. I certainly have a plan in place -- just not a typical plan. And given the high incidence of iatrogenic deaths and disease, I stay away from hospitals and doctors for the most part.
...and things happen to me all the time! I would lead an insufferably boring life if nothing happened.
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| Sep 13 @ 5:40 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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Jankia
Posts: 11,908
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50 million uninsured people create higher medical costs by default and we have higher medical costs because of the medical needs to purchase Malpractice Insurance.
How about we send the 50 million uninsured to new Medical care facilities that dont have Malpractice Insurance and advise all that enter that facility...they enter at risk.
The risk of not getting insured care and possibly not the best medical care but qualified medical care.
Lifes a risk..live the risk in it.
or
Drop healthcare and malpractice insurance all together for everyone and collect a Federal Citizens Use Tax apportioned to healthcare.
Everyone disabled,under 18 and over 65 pays no tax.Everyone else does or your at risk of being refused care.
Hospitals and doctors determine medical care cost by whats available in the fund.
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| Sep 13 @ 6:04 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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lacyvsq
Posts: 6,173
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How about we send the 50 million uninsured to new Medical care facilities that dont have Malpractice Insurance and advise all that enter that facility...they enter at risk.
Works for me!
...[you're] at risk of being refused care.
Works for me!
No one should be compelled to 'care' for me. In truth, no one who has to be compelled can 'care' for me. Caring emanates from the heart.
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| Sep 13 @ 8:26 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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Loreli
Posts: 25,413
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Lacy,
it was a general statement.
I know it's hard to tell that here.
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| Sep 14 @ 3:17 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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RareQuestor
Posts: 2,652
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I read the article and, while I am not prepared to dispute it, I did find it curious that the doctor evidently blamed everybody except doctors. It does not necessarily invalidate his argument, but it does suggest that he has his own agenda.
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| Sep 14 @ 7:58 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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Bj864
Posts: 3,964
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Nightowl001
That is a great article. I think it is one of the major reasons for our high costs, but I think there are other things that come into play also.
Greed is another one, in tthe health insurance industry.
Malpractice insurance is another one, but I do not think we should just let doctors get by with harming and killing people either.
There are other factors too, but those are probably the main ones.
keeping uninsured people out of the ER will probably lower the death rate. Charity providers will pick up the truly needy .
I am thinking that you have never had to go through what most uninsured people have to go through or you would never make that statement.
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| Sep 14 @ 9:27 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!!
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lacyvsq
Posts: 6,173
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I am thinking that you have never had to go through what most uninsured people have to go through or you would never make that statement.
I have had insurance for only a year in the past 12 years.
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| Sep 14 @ 11:41 PM |
A Doctors Take On The Health Care Problems And Causes!! |
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bardnsage
Posts: 1,171
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I'm still not clear on how putting insurance compaines out of business is going to stop the spiral effect on medical costs,,,,
it just transfers the driver from the insurance carrier,,, to the federal governemnt,,, which has a long history of cost containment.
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