Posted on 09/17/2009 4:52:23 AM PDT by Scythian
Boy did he destroy the myth's of the American health care system and the cries that all other countries have socialized medicine. What a sham, governments of other nations are covering everybody via private health care, in fact, most do, the myth of socialized medicine is largely that, a myth. It was a very in depth interview.
It was a real eye opener, what you think about Germany, France and so on and other western nations and their health care might actually suprise you. I hope others were able to see that interview.
Federalizing airport security’s a good idea and it still it. Unacceptable lapses in security occured on September 11, 2001.
When you take out the confounding factors like when a newborn baby is a newborn baby, accidents and murder the answer is they don't. Does that answer your question?
That depends on what you mean by "federalize," but the formula enacted into law (including forming the TSA) was stupid. Next time there is a failure of an aircraft due to maintenance issues, should we federalize the maintenance employees?
The “middle-man” is accounted for in the 20% administrative number he sited (think CEO, claims adjuster, customer service, the agent that sells the policy) Each of these are doing something in the process.
The math is that for every dollar collected in premium, $.20 goes to pay for everything excluding the claim.
Can this $.20 number be driven down? Sure, but you are still faced with the fact if a type of coverage is mandated by the government the money to pay for that coverage must come from somewhere. That is the $.80 of the $1.00 in premium.
Again, where does the $.80 come from to pay the claims? Is it generate from the customer in the form higher premiums?
Is it from the income generated from investments the company makes with the money? Probably not since the market is down.
Or is there a subsidy that must take place to aid the company to pay claims since they can not raise it from premiums from the customer due to regulations preventing rate increases or from the investment market?
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. If you like paying 60-70% of what you earn in taxes, it can be good.
Gretchen Rocks! I’ve seen her challenge guests when they try to ‘snowjob’the public.
Nonsense, friends of mine come regularly from England.
Yes, but...all your friends are SHEIKS, aren’t they??? hmmmmm????
;)
I was very wary of his "findings" as well.
The only foreigners who come to the US for healthcare are the rich, super-rich oil sheiks who go to the Mayo Clinic. (As God is my witness I had no idea that Canada had that many oil sheiks.)
The rest of the world is magnificent with a wonderful blend of private/public healthcare and there are no lines, no waiting, no pre-existing condition exclusions, Everybody is happyhappyhappy, no problems, etc. If your healthcare claims are not paid in 5 days your insurance premium for next month is FREE!?!?!?
He also did not make any mention of how much malpractice insurance costs or if there is a limit on lawsuits or even if you can can sue.
Then I saw where he gets his paycheck and said, "Well, that explains a lot."
If everyone should get the same health care or it is immoral, then Congress should be willing give up their caddilac plan and wait in lines for homoginized health care like the Dems want the rest of us to do.
I've seen specific information about specific insurance companies, in regards to other false claims about how much of the market they control.
IN one case I'm sure the overhead was well under 10%. I would be shocked if any insurance company is running 20% overhead, unless it is a company specifically doing the insurance for unions.
Every company has to deal with businesses, trying to win large contracts. A business would never contract with a company that had 20% overhead.
IF large corporations were really just falling over with beuracratic waste, they would lose market share to companies that weren’t.
For example, Enron. The market will correct for this, unless government steps in and screws it up with regulation that protects the waste.
And in fact, a lot of private business waste is caused by government requirements for reporting everything. Where a company used to cheaply provide free sick leave, now they have to limit it because when an employee gets sick, there is reams of paperwork that has to be filed for the business to prove they are meeting the requirements of the “non-paid leave” act.
Because we are rich, and lazy, and eat like pigs. And we have plenty of money to spend on stuff that is bad for us.
Oh, and we are a free society, we have guns, we have knives. We also have a black underclass that has been taught that the world is unfair and there are no rules, so we have huge gang problems, we have kids doing drugs at alarming rates, so we have lots of people dying very young in ways that have NOTHING to do with health care, but which brings down our life expectancy.
People are not dying because of inadequate ability of health care. People might be dying because they didn’t buy insurance and didn’t save money and therefore think they can’t go to the doctor, but that’s not an indication that medical care itself is substandard.
We have the drugs, we have the doctors, we train the worlds medical community, we design the equipment, we sell the medication.
T.R. Reid: Looking Overseas For ‘Healing Of America’
He spent two years (partly funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation) looking at health care systems across the world and has been featured heavily in many media venues lately
Why is the US the only rich country in the world to not provide health care for all citizens? It’s a questions of ethics and morals. Where are ours?
This book lays out the health care provisions for all other industrialized countries—and yes, some of them are notably BETTER than what we have in the US. As shocking as that may seem to many, it is something to keep in mind through this health care reform crisis—and it is definitely a crisis.
Reid’s point that universal health care is attainable—without sacrificing our freedoms is well made and supported n his book. We Americans can and should learn from other countries—they’ve done the footwork, and the groundwork has been laid out =for us—”all we have to do” is pick and choose the model we want to follow—and no, “following” is not always a bad thing.
In the end, it is sheer profit motivation and greed that is holding us back....and the misguided thinking of the right wing masses. And yet, these very same people can’t wait to sign up for Medicare coverage as soon as they turn 65. Talk about a disconnect. Most of them don’t even acknowledge (or realize?) that Medicare is a government run health care program—SHOCKING, but true!
Maybe this whole idea just needs repackaging to make it acceptable. How about “Medicare for all?”
******
T.R. Reid is a reporter, documentary film correspondent and author. He is also a frequent guest on NPR’s Morning Edition. He is married to attorney Margaret M. McMahon
reporting for The Washington Post, his syndicated weekly column, and for National Public Radio
A 2007 Kaiser Family Foundation media fellow in health and he is a member of the board of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
The portion of the interview I watched had him raving about privatized Swiss care, but it was cheaper, more efficient. Well I guess so! The Swiss don’t let folks in who can’t afford to live there. Everyone has a job, or has bundles of cash. If you aren’t subsidizing 30% of the legal population and another 10% of illegals...
Being in a similar business I am used to these studies. They are complete and utter HS. The question is not what fraction of HC insurance dollars does for administration of health care insurance. The question is what fraction of health care dollars does to pay the salaries of doctors and nurses, the purchase of drugs and equipment, etc. It is a whole lot less than the other 80%.
Bwahahaa! 20% overhead is trivial. Almost no business, even a very very efficient small business operates with that little overhead.
Now your getting into what should be the price for providing the health care and what goes into that price. That will only be known in a truly free market.
Just thought of this, what if the customer involved in controlling the price. Novel concept, I know.
This could be done through having the customer pay or finance the cost and then be reimbursed afterward with a set amount. For instance, the insurer will pay $200.00 for a procedure on an ingrown toenail. The insured finds a doctor that does it for $100. Customer pockets half the savings. This could possible encourage people to negotiate the rates down.
Sorry didn’t get your point at first. I thought you meant the agents and insurance company staff.
I absolutely agree that we need a true free market in health care insurance, and health care generally. That is pretty far from what we actually have, and I am all for things that would increase openness, transparency and competition in the marketplace. Neither 0 care nor leaving this as they are accomplishes this.
Even insurers hit with charges of high-overhead, like Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ, has a total overhead including profit of 15.6%, well under 20%.
Companies which hire insurers simply to administer plans that the company self-funds generally won’t pay more than 10% of the total costs.
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