Sifting through the misinformation of healthcare reform and how it affects all of us.


Sifting through the misinformation of healthcare reform and how it affects all of us.

Who should we believe has the best solutions for how we get better and more cost effective healthcare in the USA.   Should we have single payor, more insurers, insurers that go across state lines, vouchers, higher deductibles, Obamacare, Trumpcare, etc.

If all of these are great ideas, why is it that they all cost so much.  Even the experts admit that if we went single payor ala Medicare for all, the most we could probably save would be 20%, something most of us would gladly embrace if we purchase our own care.  What we rarely hear about is the fact that Medicare also offers a low deductible, has good negotiating power with hospital systems and should be able to negotiate drug prices, an ability that it should have had from when the bill was passed a dozen years ago.

Administratively, having one carrier and one set of rules makes a lot of sense, however, those who are currently profiting from the current chaotic system do not want a system that excludes them or their profits.

What is also true is that many physicians after years in practice are still paying back student loans, after having educations that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars which clearly is part of the physician salary equation as well.

The starvation of primary care doctors is also a problem, since their gatekeeper status is affected when they only have 10 minutes to spend to diagnose and refer you out, which for many complex problems is clearly not enough time.   The one size fits all environment they live in drives costs as soon as the patient visits a specialist, instead of the primary looking at you and the complexity of your problem.

I found this interesting web blog that reviews the many myths we often hear.  So far, all the policy makers have not solve the problem and over the years, the insurance companies have made changes we are all paying for.  The high deductible and thin network solutions are going to cost us more in the end, so why not go single payor, something we can scale out from our current Medicare model.  Its not perfect, but it works.

9 myths about Obamacare reform

Julie Mack January 26, 2017

s repeal of the Affordable Care Act gets under way, there is considerable debate over strategies for replacement.

President Donald Trump has said his goal is “insurance for everybody,” in a way that lowers costs and deductibles.

The question is how to accomplish that.

“Health care is complex and requires trade offs” in terms of how best to use limited resources, said Tim Michling, an analyst for the Citizens Research Counsel of Michigan. “It’s time to make some tough decisions.”

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