Dundee. I wasn't defending insurance companies. I don't like them either. I was simply stating the law requires the insurance companies to pay 80% loss ratios. That is going to drive premiums. Don't think for a second if the government were running the entire system they wouldn't be pushing generic drugs. The problem is going to be cost of care going forward. That will drive premiums most. If they don't figure out a way to control it the system will ultimately implode. There will be a breaking point where people say, "I've had it. I am not paying anymore." By the way, I have a friend that takes a brand name injection daily that literally costs $6000 per month without insurance. She pays a $15 co-pay with insurance. Now on what planet does it make it okay to charge an insurance company or anyone $6000 a month for a drug? There is plenty of blame to go around and a lot of reasons our system will not be like Canada/France/UK etc.
1. Our lifestyle. Too much processed bad food and way too large portions. No moderation. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. We pretty much lead the world in these categories and they are increasingly expensive to treat and place a lot of strain on our healthcare system.
2. In the countries with "socialized medicine" a very high majority (probably in the 90 percentile or higher) pay into the system in the form of income tax. In our country roughly half the population pays NO income tax. Where does the extra money come from? We want all these thing but no one wants to pay for it. It's a different mindset than other countries.
3. Most developed countries make it illegal to pass on the research and development of a drug to the consumer. In the US this is legal and as a consequence we pay much higher costs for drugs that were developed here but shared with the entire world. We bear nearly the entire research and development costs.
4. We are the only country in the world with rich doctors, even wealthy doctors. Doctors do well in many countries but if they want to really make some coin, they come here. Most doctors are going to have to take a pay cut or take early retirement. I think that is coming.
5. Every piece of our system is for profit and all fighting over the same dollar. Hospitals, Dr.s, insurance, pharmaceutical, medical devices and so on
6. Way too much fraud and its not just Medicare. Inflated bills, bogus charges, etc.
7. Malpractice lawsuits. Again, not much of a problem in most other countries. You either can't sue or if you do and lose - YOU PAY. That will stop a lot of nonsense. The point is "socialized medicine" doesn't really have to deal with this.
8. A doctor could easily be $400,000 in debt right out of school. With the reimbursement rates being cut, it will take a Dr. a long time to dig out of that debit. Who will even want to be a doctor? We will probably start importing A LOT of them in very short order. Maybe if they make it through Medical School we should waive the debit or a big part of it. At least it would be an investment.
Just wait until the employer mandate finally kicks in. There is a reason why they have delayed it twice already (until 2015). Funny how they can take pieces of the law and pick and choose which parts to follow and which ones to delay. I didn't know law worked that way. At any rate, when the employer mandate kicks in, you will see hundreds of thousands of people reduced to 29 hours or changed to a 1099 status so the employer avoids the mandate. We are going to have a massive portion of the workforce that has 2 part time jobs, working full time hours and with no health insurance. Some because the employer is greedy and some because the employer risks putting himself/herself out of business if they abide by the law. The bottom line is this is the law of the land and it is what it is. Some people will think its great and others not so much. I just hope we can come together and fix it because it is far more messed up than people realize right now.
ing about it.
