On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:58, David Forslund wrote: > But the government paid healthcare in the US is one of the BIG stimuli > for fraud and identity theft. Without the government being involved, the > drive for identity theft would be less. Removing any restraints on > eligibility will drive > the costs even higher.
Probably wrong.
The US have the highest per capita expenditure on health of all OECD countries.
But the increasing involvement of the government has been coincident with the
biggest increase in costs of healthcare in the US. We may not have federally
funded healthcare, but I have no choice in my healthcare insurance because
of federal regulations. Perhaps the cost increase is because it isn't completely socialized.
However, it seems to be the place of choice when people want to have their
health taken care of.
At the same time, the US have one of the least comprehensive *public* health systems, and only mediocre outcome in terms of WHO criteria. Meaning that there is not so much in terms of "government paid healthcare" in the first place, since the government sees its role restricted to "emergency backup for desperate cases" rtaher than universal comprehensiveservice provision
This latter statement is simply not true. Medicare casts a big (and increasing) shadow on
healthcare in the US It defines allowable costs, etc, even for those not on Medicare.
Countries like Norway where there are zero restraints on eligibility (every temporary or permanent resident is eligible for full comprehensive public health care) have a significantly smaller per capita health expenditure and, maybe surprisingly, a better outcome in terms of WHO criteria.
Do you have 17million border crossings a year from neighboring countries? This
is what we have in the state of NM in only a few border crossing points. People
come here to get free healthcare, particularly from Mexico.
Translate that into "In the US, if you are rich, you can get the best possible
health care, albeit at a premium price. Everybody else gets ripped off for a
rather mediocre service (in terms of value for money in OECD comparison), and
a significant part of the population even misses out on OECD class health
care. Just look at your drug prices! This is because much of the money
officially spent on health is diverted into bureaucracy / administration,
unnecessary duplication of services, waste of ressources, and outright
profiteering." This is the domain where fraud pays off.
The fraud pays off on government funded programs. I agree there is enormous bureaucracy, and a lot of it is at the federal level.
What fraud could you possibly commit if you are entitled to a high class free treatment through the public health service in the first place?
What are your qualifications to get the healthcare? Do you have to be a citizen?
That has been declared illegal in the US. So we have to provide free healthcare
to those who are illegally in our country. Is this going on in Norway?
It is my conviction that there are not many countries where a PID would facilitate fraud - in the majority of countries a PID system would indeed *prevent* fraud.
I can tell you it is an overwhelming concern by our folks in our State (NM), and there is
nothing coming along that is likely to change that soon.
The US is the most desired country for people to come to both legally and illegally. This
puts a great deal of pressure on our healthcare system (and other systems, too).
Dave
Horst
