If Government is so determined to get into all businesses, why don't they reform the insurance companies instead of starting a government run healthcare? The politicians don't have a clue as to how insurance companies have control over our health.They should sit in a doctor or dentist office wnd see how hard it is to get paid for services rendered and or sevices approved for the patient. I have worked in a dental office for nine years and it is getting worse. I also pay for all my healthcare and it raises every year from 25%-35%for less coverage.Please someone let people that know what they are talking about,not politicians that have never seen a claim form,bill, or eob from an insurance company,make the decisions to clean up this mess.
After 20 years of being a corporate shill and self-described fixer, NOW Wendell Potter is a virgin.
I'm sure Potter made sure his retirement payments were nice and secure before he discovered -- after TWO decades -- that he was shocked!, shocked! that there was gambling in Rick's.
Thank you for your detailed history of tort reform. I had always wondered just how that 'movement' had started. And I completely agree with you (and Obama) that more attention to patient safety, and more public disclosure of such things as hospital infection rates, is what's called for. I personally knew over 20 people who died in just the past five years due to medical malpractice and, from these cases, believe that very few people actually sue. The families of these particular victims did not even consider the option seriously enough to consult lawyers.
It was my understanding that, years ago, a cap was placed on the amounts that could be awarded in malpractice suits. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I thought that it was this cap, of $250,000, that discouraged lawyers from taking malpractice cases.
Regarding "small changes to reduce harm", one that I would recommend is to reverse the change in law that occurred in the 1980s (lobbied for by the AMA) that allowed hospitals to reduce the percentage of fresh air that had been previously required of its HVAC systems. Ostensibly to save on energy costs, hospitals' heating and air conditioning were retrofitted to depend almost entirely on recirculated air, thus spreading infections more easily from patient to patient.
It seems to me that insurance companies are in the best position to limit the harm caused by repeat-offender doctors and hospitals. The simple removal of such doctors and hospitals from the HMO and PPO lists of covered or preferred providers would go a long way toward inducing higher standards of patient safety and care. Why haven't the insurance companies taken this proactive and ethical stance, when it is in their discretionary power to add or remove providers from their lists? I think the question is worth asking.
Under the Finance Committee's bill, how much of your premium would be allowed to go to administrative costs, overhead, etc?
Did United Health get the 35 percent figure they lobbied for?
Also, can you please give your thoughts on the 40 percent excise tax that would be placed on families whose plan would cost more than $21,000 a year ($1,750 a month) by 2013?
My family of three is already paying $1,500 a month to United. My Mom has diabetes and our premium is likely to go up given that my Dad just turned 60. We tried to change to a cheaper plan, but my Mom's diabetes is a pre-existing condition and thus she didn't qualify.
So, basically, it looks to me like we're going to get hit with a 40 percent tax because our premiums are high due to my parents' age and an (incredibly common) pre-existing condition, and that an exorbitant percent of our premiums will be going to insurance profits if the Finance Committee's bill goes through.
Does this sound about right?
On a related note, do you know if the Finance Committee has fixed the loophole that would allow self-insurers to continue to discriminate against individuals with pre-existing conditions?
Would you mind emailing me your response so that I can include it on my blog?
Thanks,
Andrew
Social media allows individuals to gain exposure and interact with other professionals in a particular field. Great networking resource!
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