Organization: Penn State University
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 22:23:26 EDT
From: <DGS4@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.activism,misc.headlines
Subject: Re: Health care will-o-wisps

In article <1992Sep2.135741.3862@desire.wright.edu>, demon@desire.wright.edu
(Stupendous Man) says:
>
>In <9209011924.AA00410@poly.math.cornell.edu>, harelb@MATH.CORNELL.EDU
>(misc.activism.progressive co-moderator) writes:
>...
>Industry.'' Dr. Bodenheimer is a member of Physicians for a National
>Health Program, and his article appeared in _The International
>Journal of Health Services_ last year (Vol 20, No. 2, 1990)"
>
>The article includes the comparisons:
>...
>============================================================
>Percentage of premiums consumed by overhead:
>
>Private Insurance Companies:              12% (overhead & profits)
>
>Public payers (e.g. Medicare, Medicaid):   3%
>
>Canadian provincial insurance plans:      under 1%
>============================================================
>
>        Typical.  In a table to compare overhead, and only overhead, the US
>totals include profits.

Profits in the U.S. health insurance industry rarely top 4%, and in recent
years have been barely positive and often negative.



>        On PBS last night, even with a pro-Canadian bent, the show on health
>care underscored the radical differences between the US and Canada.

Again, an old show, which trotted out information which was otudated at
the time the show was aired the first time.

>
>        Lack of procedures, waiting lines, lack of funds are driving people
>south to get care at US facilities.

Much of the care south of the border is paid for by the Canadian government.


>        It's great to spend less, but it's not worth dying over.

So you prefer our system where we spend more and still die?



>        My dad had a heart attack last week.  He obtained immediate acces to a
>cardiac critical care unit, and his angiogram is being done today.  Not next
>month.  Not next year.  And yes, I think the increased cost is worth it.

If his need was urgent, he would have received the care in Canada, too.


>        Administrative costs are not a symptom of bad health care, but that of
>bad administration.  Handing it over to the government, who will then create a

Of course, it's a symptom of a bad health care system.  Nobody has proposed
asking the government to provide medical care.  It merely has to collect
and dispense funds, or coordinate the actions of private payers, as is done
in Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, etc.


>bureaucracy, and a 15% sales tax to fund it, will not solve the problem.  If
>you want decreased admin costs, then *standardize the billing system*.
>Period.

Wait a second.  You want the government to step in and force private firms
to use one standard billing form?  I'm shocked, sir, shocked, that you
would suggest such an intrusion in the private market.
Seriously, though, the government and private payers are already doing
this.  They have a draft for a standardized billing form (UB-82) which
would be used.
Unfortunately, this isn't the only reason the US has higher administrative
costs.


>        Only a fool believes that you can get something for nothing.
>Government admin would yield lines, decreased quaility, increased fraud,
>decreased availability and higher taxes.  It's a recipe for disaster.  People

Funny, but this is an accurate description of the trend in our system over
the last two decades, as we have increased competition in the medical care
sector.

>would take little comfort at their relatives funerals that "gee, we're not
>spending as much as we used to" or "they might have died on the table,
>anyway".

And, like the woman on the PBS show last night, Americans can take little
comfort in the fact that a women die of cancer because they have no
insurance in the United States.
>
>        Once again we hear the the problems caused by bureaucracies can only
>be
>solved by creating a bigger bureaucracy.
>
>        Yeah.  Right.

No one said bigger (it would be hard to get bigger that the current private
bureaucracy).  We want better, and many of us believe that government can
play a role in that, as it has in other countries.

Dennis G. Shea, Penn State
<<DISCLAIMER>>
Ain't nobody's bizness but my own. I'll be happy to accept all
the credit for anything I've written.  It's funny, however, how
employers only acknowledge the profitable ideas.
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