The reason nobody wants to offer alternatives is socialism is a dirty word. That's why this plan was created because if we went to a true universal health care system there would be blood in the streets. It would NEVER fly.
Part of the problem is the govt which funds Medicaid & Medicare opt to how much they will pay for a procedure. That's what the hospital gets & that's it. Say it costs $10,000 to have a surgical procedure done. Well Medicaid or Medicare decide they are only going to pay $7,000 well that still leaves 3,000 on the table unpaid. The facility where the procedure was done has to write that off as a loss. So those costs are passed along to those who can pay by raising the cost of procedures for the next year to people who have insurance which raises the rates of everybody else because the insurance companies have to turn a profit or they go under.
Now the hospital can't legally turn anyone away which is a good thing. However that means that we have to bear the burden of making up for these shortcomings. The idea is to make everybody carry insurance to help overcome these shortfalls but I see this as closing the barn doors after the livestock is already running loose. That will not decrease the hospitals operating costs. All that does is make it so people with existing conditions NOT be able to be denied insurance. That's important but it just passes the costs onto everybody else, which many simply can't afford. So we put them on Medicare & Medicaid which goes back to the problem above. Now we've got even more people taking out and less putting in which means we have to increase our contributions and the cycle continues as we go further down the spiral. So at what point does it implode? Then what?
If they want to fix things they should require transparency within the healthcare system. That's universal healthcare to me. The price to do a procedure should be nearly the same regardless of what facility you have it done at geographically. Granted there are some exceptions like bigger hospitals can buy in bigger bulk so they save $ that way, but at least that can be shown when someone audits the books. And maybe that means that your local hospital doesn't offer certain things because they just can't justify it since they don't do many of that kind of procedure or service. So that may mean you get transferred to another facility to have something done.
It's not that the hospital you went to is bad but the one our being sent to is that much better. Joint replacement, or pediatrics, or an advanced heart & vascular center for example. But there is no reason for the cost to be that much higher on one side of the state vs the other for a procedure or even within the same city. IF that's the case then WHY? Where does the money go?
If there is then there better be an evaluation as to why. Is it because they have a bloated and expensive administration? Is it because they have more complications after a procedure? Like infection, or other kinds of issues? If so then let's look at what's going on and reduce the problems. Maybe one hospital isn't as advanced and doing that procedure the old way and more patients are having complications which increases stays, requires more treatments, and ultimately raises costs. Well lets see how the other hospital is doing it and improve so everybody is doing it the right way, which decreases patient complications, decreases admission times and lowers costs. If they want to pay their administration more that's fine but that should come out of their profits instead of from raising the costs passed onto the patients. Maybe they think next time and not hire such expensive people.
Maybe it's expand the urgent care hours or set up an urgent cafe inside the ER & send patients there if its not a big deal. Many hospitals have "fast track" which is like that but many don't staff it 24/7 which might save money and free up beds in the ER.
It's not about who does things cheapest but just doing them better. More efficiently, smarter, and with less complications.
Here's one if you choose to make poor lifestyle choices then you deserve to pay more. If you smoke, if you drink excessively. Why should healthy people who make smart healthy decisions pay more for people who continue to make poor ones? If your blood work is nicotine free or your hair sample is nicotine free you should get a break. Manage your blood pressure or your look sugar you get a break. You shouldn't be punished for being a diabetic HOWEVER it's your failure to manage it by poor diet choices or lifestyle choices that need to be addressed. That will encourage people to not smoke, and use a blood pressure cuff, or a glucometer. I deal with these folks all the time who choose not to care for themselves. Yes it's not fair that I get to drink regular coke and you have to drink diet coke. Yes its not fair that you cant have 3 pieces of pie a la mode or gorge on you kids halloween candy. Yes you may have gotten a rotten deal, but it's the cards you were dealt. What's not fair is making everybody else pay for your bad decisions because you choose not to take care of your condition. Suck it up buttercup. Take responsibility for your health and manage it.
