snugs, there is a very thorough discussion of the proposed changes in a lib magazine, The Atlantic. The author wrote that the true customer of today’s hospitals is not the patient but Medicare and Medicaid, which are paying almost 50% of all the bills. I had not seen that observation before, but it explains very well the relationship between hospital administration, patient, and third-party payer.
The author did a serious study of today’s hospital systems after his father died from a hospital-acquired infection and spent 5 weeks in an ICU.
So already government bureaucracies control most of what hospitals are allowed to do.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care
I read that Atlantic piece yesterday and it is very good.
His discussion of the price and market distortion was very good. And the example of Lasix was superb.
I liked his solution and have thought of it myself in the past,,sort of an account from which you draw and pay into and even it up at death.
A very good piece and everyone should read it.
He was then discharged at the end of January though in retrospect he was not ready to come out mainly because his consultant was paranoid that as he had not picked up any hospital based infection to get him out before he did. This is causing problems in our hospitals that doctors push patients out early to avoid them catching anything.
In dad’s case he was then taken back into hospital 5 days later and spent yet another 5 weeks there before coming out, this time much more able to cope and has continued to improve at home now being able to walk from the bed to chair and even further down the room. Aim is to get him into the car so that our friend can take him out for a few hours.