Easy Fix for Medical Insurance

[MikeNY]

Rather this this fake debate about Private and Public Health Insurance Co's Washington can cap the amount of administration cost & profit any insurance provider earns, let us say 5% or 10% of billings and profits will be inside that cap! That one reform would cut medical insurance in the USA by 60% to 65% minimum. If one factors in the 10% overheard Doctors and Medical Providers now pay to satify useless Insurance Paperwork the real saving might be 70% to 75%!

In addition tort reform to stop frivolous Law Suits would save Billions and also cut down on unnessary tests Doctors use just to defend themselves against possible Law Suits.

Traditional Insurance co's will not be able to compete with newer and better Provider's that use computers and not bloated bureaucracies so the President of the Company can earn hundred's of millions of Dollar's per year. New streamed lined Insurance Co's will use computers and just investigate the outliers that have billings beyond the norm and also cut down on the paperwork medical providers need to submit and n0ot require the onerous current papaerwork and constant telephone calls.

[Andy62]

Mike, That is a well thought out approach,but believe me it isn't going to be easy. In addition to my training in military intelligence during the Savings And Loan Crisis I acted as a consultant and actually taught classes for the the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. You are dealing with bureacracies and in a bureacracy every manager and department head up to the CEO tries to control their zone by giving out as little information as they can. In a burearacy YOU CONTROL BY CONTROLLING INFORMATION. Bureaucracies are comparmentalized and managed in silos. It is hard to get a clean audit of an Insurance company or even departments in the company. I have seen Federal Auditors leave in disgust after facing the sophisticated guerrilla warfare tactics of astute managers who know the game and how to play it. If the truth be known that is really what happened to the subprime loans. This is going to be some game!

[MikeNY]

Gordon so true! They each have a little kingdom to guard and protect. I know a Medical Provider that just grew sick of all the reams of Insurance Co. paper work and the countless telephone calls. Last year when another friend was in Intensive Care I saw it, he complained there were no nurses there. I went daily and saw a large open room behind the nurses station with glass walls so I could see inside; Doctors and Nurses always in there working on paperwork on thier laptops and the door was open. I could hear the ones on the telephone talking to insurance Co's. I suspected the hospital did it on purpose to let the public see what was going on!

My friend complained that he rarely saw a nurse, just nurses aides, for the nurses were always in thier on thier laptops mostly. Seeing it stunned me, what a monumental waste of time! If that pattern holds true for all of medicine then the US is wasting even more money than is appearent on Insurance Paperwork.

I know that the major Insurance Companies are huge contributors to both Political Parties and I noticed the CBO set the cost of Senator Kennedy's new Insurance plan at $62,500 per person.

Just limiting the share of what Insurance Co's can take from each medical dollar can reduce our Nation's Medical costs to very resonable and not effect the quality of care for anyone. I have yet to hear from any Politican on this issue and I did contact them.

There are lots of young, smart businessmen that would be happy to charge a 5% to 10% administrative cost and use computer banks in Medical Billing and they'll make fortunes. The Insurance bureacracies and Executives have a vested interest in not changing the System! Where else can a someone doing nothing be paid $300 Million to $400 Million Dollars per year doing a make work job heading up a useless Insurance Co.

[Andy62]

Mike, I have been following this and the insurance companies are in there working all of their political connections and lobbying power. Obama is very strong in certain areas,but he is weak in his sense of "strategy" and he doesn't understand "leverage." He spent to much time in the protected and structured environments of academia and law practice- his real education is about to begin.

[MikeNY]

Gordon I think if they open up the Insurance Industry to comepetion we see prices falling. Couple a modern approach using computer power rather then deduntent human worker's and useless paperwork and calls and couple that to medical tort reform you will see the cost of medicine afforadable and easily available. We can do the same things to save on Medicad and Medicare!

When I heard the OMB said Senator Keneddy's bill would cost $62,500 per person per year I know the System was out of control. No wonder other nations have better Medical care than the US at a much cheaper price, they are simply controling the price of Administration.

I sure wish some of our resident Medical Experts would comment they have insights into this we could never have.

[Andy62]

From what I am getting the other countries do not have as good of care as we do. They ration care by age and other characteristics. It isn't the best care that we are talking about it is who wins the power struggles and turf battles. I think all of this stuff is going to come out like that old joke about a bill moving through Congress " A bill is proposed and starts moving through the system. All along the way various people make suggestions and state their opinions What comes out at the end is something that nobody wants,but everybody has given their imput."

[MikeNY]

Gordon I haven't lived in Europe for decades, it was a great Medical System when I lived in the UK long ago. I have cousins in Canada, UK and they report they are happy with thier system. My cousin in canada had a bout of Cancer and she is a senior citizen and got immeidate great care but she lived in Ontario. I've heard that differnt Provinces have differnt systems. Germany also reportedly has a good system, private overseen by the Government and regulated.

Gordon US citizens are not the longest lived, our system might need fixing.

If rubberbus or any others wish to report that would be fine.

Any of you like this idea, please feel free to write your US Senators and Congressmen and feel free to copy and paste what I wrote. I wish the Government would do a simple reform like we are talking about here. My estimate is we can cut cost deeply as well as cover the uninsured for less than we now pay and not effect care or service.