Can we talk?

Lowering Health Costs

    How about doing things that make medical care cost less? Has any congressman considered that a reform?

    We could put a ceiling on how much a physician or clinic or hospital could be sued. If they can't be sued for millions of dollars, their malpractice insurance would be more reasonable. Standard fees-is that a novel idea? Why would one patient be charged a fee for a cardioversion that is different from another patient?

  And what about the fancy charges? For example, an initial visit might be $115, while a regular visit is $79. The only thing different between the two visits was the secretary who keyed in the information and copied my id. No extra equipment or time or materials, so why the $36 increase? Typing for 5 minutes or less? And then there's the doctor who has level one, level two, and level three visits. They're all pretty much the same; is that a way to get more from the insurance company? If extra steps or time were taken, it might make sense. And the fee to stop in your room on his hospital rounds is too expensive; they're usually very quick visits, no exam.

    Of course, there's the dishonesty factor. False claims against Medicare and Medicaid and private insurance drive up our costs. And doctors may not even be aware of it in large practices, where there is a non-medical person managing the business. And there are errors. I found a charge on my account for an expensive procedure that wasn't mine, and the insurance paid it! I complained another time of an extra hospital visit my another doctor in the practice on my bill. I was told that there's a charge automatically if he walks in the room ($125 at that time years ago). I told her I wasn't in the hospital that day. She looked like I had accused her of something, no sorry's, no oops.

      Every hospital has volunteers, but some do more than others. One I know of uses its senior citizens to check people in and escort them to their rooms or labs or surgery units. They push the wheel chair if necessary. The only paid employee at check-in is the registrar behind the desk.

    Then we have the expense of office space. Hospital zones or big medical areas get more rent than others because landlords have dollar signs in their eyes. Practices in residential or more obscure places cost less to run. And those who manage to buy their own building in an area that's not developed yet, save money too. What does that mean to the consumer? If more medical practices avoided the high rent areas, they wouldn't have to pass that cost on to us.

    Why am I rambling on about things I'm not a part of? I am aware that many people, many company are making a fortune at he expense of sick people, dying people, and people afraid of getting old, sick, or dying. Big corporations, builders of equipment, realtors, pharmaceuticals, individuals, service providers, and accounting firm owners are not out to help us, but to make a profit from us. And when government gets involved, they buy $1000 toilet seats. Costs will go up, not down.

    Instead of health insurance reform, or in addition to it, we should take a look at saving money for medical providers, limiting profits (not eliminating), and lowering prices for the consumer. That would be reform.