Simple Health Care Plan

[MoTaVa]

I believe the solution to what is perceived as a health care crisis in this country is far simpler than it appears.

Stop fraud. Stop fleecing. Jail offenders.

How can anyone possibly justify $4.00 for a single tablet of Tylenol? You can buy a bottle of Tylenol for $4.00. One can only imagine how far that sort of corruption goes.

With insurance companies being bombarded with over inflated bills from greedy hospitals and doctors, and countless fraudulent claims filed by the laziest of our population, it is no wonder health insurance is unaffordable for most people.

[Phantom]

I don't think insurance companies end up paying $4 for that tylenol pill - they usually have negotiated rates.

I remember when my insurance refused to pay for a lab bill for some reason or another and the lab sent me a bill for something like $130. When the insurance company finally paid the bill, they ended up paying something like $10. This outcome doesn't mean the system is working well, but I don't think insurance companies are paying as high prices as you think.

[MoTaVa]

Sorry for the delay in responding to this. Lets look at your example for a moment.

The lab bill was $130. The insurance company paid $10. Well how much did the lab work actually cost? Was it $130 or $10? I mean it can only cost what it costs.

If it cost $130, who ended up paying the remaining $120 ? Someone with no insurance, or someone with better insurance? Either way, someone is getting a bad deal. It's safe to say that a business, thats what labs are, would not just absorb losses into their profit. And if the fed is filling in that gap, would not that money be better spent on a system that wasn't corrupt?

If it cost $10, why would they lab be trying to rip someone off for $120 ?

I know what I call a solution seems way to simple to actually be effective, but why does everything need to be complicated? Sometimes the simplest most direct approach is the best approach.

[Dylith]

Originally Posted by MoTaVa

I believe the solution to what is perceived as a health care crisis in this country is far simpler than it appears.

Stop fraud. Stop fleecing. Jail offenders.

How can anyone possibly justify $4.00 for a single tablet of Tylenol? You can buy a bottle of Tylenol for $4.00. One can only imagine how far that sort of corruption goes.

With insurance companies being bombarded with over inflated bills from greedy hospitals and doctors, and countless fraudulent claims filed by the laziest of our population, it is no wonder health insurance is unaffordable for most people.

I was reading statistics in a public finance book concerning healthcare and it stated that healthcare costs tend to rise about 10% every year. It also stated that estimates show that if corruption would be completely eliminated from healthcare then costs would drop about 10% and would be right back to where they were in about a year.

So even if we were to eliminate this corruption, it would only be a temporary fix.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to limit such practices, but we also need to look at other means of bringing costs down without sacrificing the quality of treatment that we recieve.

[6SpeedTA95]

I wonder if some sort of limit on profit ie return on assets or equity or something similar to the way utilities are regulated would help healthcare. Unlike any other industry on teh planet the goals of making money in healthcare can lead to bad results for the patient. I dont thin kthere is a simple answer to this very complex issue.

[kombayn]

Vouchers & tax credits are the best way to fix the health-care system right now. To me it would be the only sensible socialized health-care plan out there.