[ExI] Health system, again

[ablainey at aol.com]

Anywhere that there is an interface between two organisations which charge each other for a service or product, there is wastage. This is true of any commercial bodies such as in a private health system and Even in fully publicly funded systems such as a national health service. In the case of national services, this is usually done to bolster inadequate budgets, but also because many people in the system get bonuses of some kind which they try to maximise.
There is always someone skimming off the cream at these interfaces and it is fully accepted.
For some reason we don't like the idea of paying for someone else's health cover, Smokers being a prime example. But we have no problem paying for the CEO's new yauht and a box full of Cuban cigars.
Cost cutting exercises, streamlining and?scrutiny of the system?generally forces these costs down through the chain to the first interfaces, so a tampon cost's $1200
Its a shame that such an expensive tampon can't be used to stop the heamorage of money!

Alex




ginal Message-----
From: Kevin Freels kevinfreels at insightbb.com



 

Personally I think that the concept of health insurance is what has caused the skyrocketing costs in the first place. People no longer saw nor cared what they were being charged because someone else was paying the bill so the market forces controlling costs were removed. It's the cost of BS we all pay. 

For example - four years ago I took my 9 yr old daughter to the ER at 3 am because she had a nosebleed that started at 9pm and hadn't stopped. We waited 3 hours, then saw a Dr for 10 minutes who crammed what looked like a small tampon up her nose and sent her home. My cost was $75 for the ER visit. When I later looked up the detailed billing out of curiosity, I saw that the Dr charge was $440 for the 15 minutes and the "tampon" cost $1200! Plus there was another $300 worth of supplies and such. I called and asked the hospital about this obvious error and they said that yes, the bill was correct, the "medical device" they put in her nose was "medicated". I was supposed to return in 3 days to have it removed which would have been a $25 co-pay office visit ($120 in insurance), but just to spite the system, I pulled the thing out myself with no trouble at all and the bleeding was obviously gone.

I have no idea why nobody wants to address this issue. If Drs are in such short supply, maybe allowing more into medical school or? allowing? practicing nurses to? do more would be in order and help to drive some of these costs down. I think that the free market isn;t working because the market is not free.
?





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