Treacy: The health care system in the U.S. was and is a mess! We got
into third party payments as a tax dodge and price control
avoidance back in 1944. Over time more and more stuff got shoved
under the medical care tent which was being paid on a fee for services
basis. We added Medicare and Medicaid in 1964 again under fee
for services arrangements to gain the support of the A.M.A.
We are now spending around 14 per cent of GDP on health care
without gaining anything much in life expectency, or health
status when compared to other nations. The Government has tryed a
number of changes in payment schemes to cut costs of the program
that were always rising faster than the inflation rate.
Under this regime, it was the working low income stiffs that were
being denied medical care because they were the medically
uninsured. In the era of what I call BIG TUNA MEDICINE, we had
all sort of sharks feeding on all the chum being thrown to the
providers. Lift chairs, bald treatments, plastic teets, angst
therapy, etc.
Business firms started to cut their costs of providing medical
insurance by: 1. working overtime because time and half is still
cheaper than another benefits package and straigt time; 2.
Outsourcing to get temp labor not covered; 3. Offering incentives
for employees to pick managed care coverage. Managed care made
some people a lot of money because it was monitoring the behavior
of the providers.
Suddenly we have huge amounts of hospital over capcity and
specialists with lots of time on their hands. Medical care price
rises have slowed way down. Is this bad for low income uncovered
working stiffs? The market option is being exercised because we
could no longer afford blank check medicine.
By the way it is possible for patients to die from incentives to
overtreat.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] COPYRIGHTED
On Mon, 29 Jan 1996, Carl H.A. Dassbach wrote:
> questions ask, the freedom for health care providers to make huge profits
> and pay inflated executive salaries while denying their clients care or
> refusing to pay the full amount because the charges are not "reasonable and
> customary," it is the frredom to be deprived of poor housing, adequate
> nutrition and a minimal level of health care, it is the freedom to turn
> people away from emergencies rooms if they do have insurance. It is the
> 'glorious' freedom of the free enterprise system where money talks and
> everybody else walks.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> Carl H.A. Dassbach E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Dept. of Social Sciences Phone: (906)487-2115
> Michigan Technological University Fax: (906)487-2468
> Houghton, MI 49931 USA
>
>
