4 Responses to “How do YOU think the healthcare problem in the U.S. would be best solved? Choose up to 2 answers in the poll in the right column then post your comments here!”

1. Tom Snow Says:
   January 11th, 2009 at 10:20 am

   1 - Tort reform. We need to stop all of the superflous tests that are called for only to meet CYA requirements for potential litigation.

   2 - Single Payer. We should require all people to pay their own insurance. If an employer wishes to pay as a part of compensation, that compensation is a fixed amount and the employee directs the employer where to send the check. If the insurance is less, the employee keeps it, more, they pay the difference.

2. Gail S Says:
   January 11th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

   The first thing that needs to happen is to determine whether or not there is a health care problem.

   Frankly, I don’t see it. I don’t hear stories anywhere of people unable to obtain needed treatment.

   Once we know whether or not there is a “problem”, then we can begin to address it.

   So far, there is only the rumor of a problem.

   Another misconception is that having health insurance = having health care. That is not so. Depending on the health coverage, a covered person may not be able to engage in routine health care.

   The biggest problem that I know of is the insurance industry double dipping. Excessive rates are charged to all health care practitioners who are required by law to have that insurance.

   Regarding insurance, all we need to do is to eliminate all laws mandating insurance of any kind. In the case of financed property, it is acceptable for the lender to require proof of insurance, but even that should not be written into law, but at the discretion of the lender.

   Getting rid of all laws mandating insurance will create the greatest economic relief we have ever experienced. It would be like Christmas every day for years to come.

   Best regards,
   Gail S

3. Mark James Says:
   January 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

   The problem with our current system is far deeper than any simple solution can offer. we cannot patch our health care system to affordability.

   I am convinced the only solution will come after the current system disintegrates into two systems, a (highly) regulated, expensive full-service system for those with adequate insurance, and an “unregulated” system, which will cover a small amount of people at first, then the majority as its benefits become obvious, i.e, a lower cost.

   The “unregulated”, or minimally regulated system, will be a system of clinics, unaffiliated quasi-hospitals, where people can get their care with a minimal amount of fuss or expense. Since they pay cash, the overhead is low. In addition, there has to be tort immunity for users of this system, and a method to avoid the intensive approvals for drugs and new techniques. Then they will flourish, and serve the lower income, then middle income brackets far more effectively than our current system.

   The catch is a corellary system has to evolve to reduce the “risks” to patients. Examples are side effects from new (unapproved) drugs and off-brand generic medicines, lower quality hardware, lesser trained and/or unscrupulous doctors, “motel 6″ type facilities, etc.

   I can see a user-education system develop, a kind of medical facebook, where users share experiences, information, and the quacks and frauds can be weeded out. (A self-insurance wiki)

   There are already “free clinics” in most major cities, where one can get amazingly sophisticated health care at an incredibly low cost. Some of these are subsidized, most have volunteer doctors and trainees, but it is possible to get health care by bypassing the existing infrastructure. As the costs of the existing system spiral out of control, causing “medical rationing”, people will find these alternatives, where instead of waiting a year for an MRI, as in Canada or the UK, they can spend $25-$50 and get an MRI at a non-approved clinic.

   Tort immunity must be addressed, one way or the other, but it will happen as the clinics spring up.

   The bottom line is that if we don’t get the regulatory costs out of the system, it can never be fixed.

   When medical equipment can be developed in the same process as computers, prices will plummet. An MRI machine would probably cost just a few thousand dollars by now, as an example. Today, unless there is a massive economy of scale on any medical innovation, its cost can be incredibly expensive, but high volume diagnostic tools are finally “commodity” purchases, such as blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors, etc. A relatively unregulated system can make almost any medical test affordable in the same manner, likewise treatments also.

   Surgery is a problem that is more complex, but can also benefit by lesser regulations. You may never want to have an operation performed with someone with minimal training, but if it meant that or nothing, it becomes easy choice.

   The problem is that more people will die. Bluntly put, that is true, just as more people will die as we reduce the mass in cars to make them more economical. Insurance companies deal with this all the time. But, we ignore the current high rate of “iatrogenic deaths” approaches a million a year, and “damage” from prescriptions is thought to be as many as 20 million a year. Our existing systems already kill and harm millions every year, in part because of the over-regulation, which an educated user would avoid far more than the current system.

   In a more self-educated, self-responsible process, preventable deaths might go up initially, but it is also possible that the self-educated health care patient resultant process will decrease iatrogenic deaths dramatically, once the user investigates what he is to take and have done, and do their independent wiki research on their health.

   A health care system with the quality of eastern Europe, or even India, would be affordable to everyone in America. But it cannot happen without fundamental changes, which will not happen until our existing system has completely collapsed.

4. John Says:
   January 11th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

   Legal Reform - Make contingency fee lawsuits illegal, then enact “loser pays” so that all the ambulance chasing scum will stop filing frivolous lawsuits. Furthermore, make the plaintiff’s lawyer responsible for all the defendant’s legal expenses if the lawsuit is in the defendent’s favor.

   Buy healthcare insurance the way you buy groceries - why on earth does anyone think putting the GOVERNMENT in charge of health care would do ANYTHING but ration care and create massive shortage of healthcare resources? Healthcare is NOT a “right”…thinking like this taken to it’s logical extreme leads to “single payer” food and housing provision. Can you imagine getting food in the manner that you would get socialized health care? This willingness to give the government such power over your individual liberties is utterly insane.

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