tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post7189702448091222463..comments2024-02-16T09:00:32.845-06:00Comments on FromDC2Iowa: SickoUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-85807067111104658372007-07-06T21:35:00.000-05:002007-07-06T21:35:00.000-05:00A lot more people could afford a catastrophic plan...A lot more people could afford a catastrophic plan than can afford a single family plan now, which is around 12K a year with Wellmark. A single plan is aorund 5K. <BR/><BR/>I agree there is no incentive in the current system. If you had a true market system, the incentive would be to keep and attract patients based on the quality of the service one provides.<BR/><BR/>I expect none of this to happen of course. I don't understand this fixation with a single payer system. It just makes for a system where everyone gets average-poor care and you attract a less talented group of professionals over the long run. It will also stifle innovation in the system.<BR/><BR/>Health Care is not a right. I do not want to pay for a systems whose costs are driven by people stuffing twinkies in their face, getting drunk all the time, and smoking 2 packs of Winstons a day, all the while being clinically obese. I believe a person should have the right to live the lifestyle they choose, but face the consequences of those actions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-16852770539844825502007-07-06T15:03:00.000-05:002007-07-06T15:03:00.000-05:00Dear Mr barleyKornIf you were diagnosed with lung ...Dear Mr barleyKorn<BR/>If you were diagnosed with lung <BR/>cancer what "market" is available to you at that point whether or not you had health insurance? If you did have insurance what incentives would the insurance company have to maximize your treatment options?<BR/><BR/>Tax free savings accounts and catastrophic health plans will only be utilized by those who can afford them and who have reason to believe that they will need them which would be a small pool of high risk patients. <BR/><BR/>There is no effective health care market because there is no real choice available to the customer when it is most needed especially with catastrophic insurance. Therefor insurance companies will always have the incentive to deny payments and minimize the options for care. Of course they don't make denial of care obvious or blatent, they just deny authorizations for minor or obtuse reasons in hope that providers and patients won't refile.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-11610372865860452822007-07-06T12:08:00.000-05:002007-07-06T12:08:00.000-05:00I have two questions: (1) Can you share with us ho...I have two questions: (1) Can you share with us how to acquire a personal copy of SICKO and if not, (2) doesn't this give you a moral obligation to hold a house party viewing for all of your faithful blog-readers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-53377815664030289092007-07-06T00:39:00.000-05:002007-07-06T00:39:00.000-05:00I have not seen Moore's film. That being said, we ...I have not seen Moore's film. That being said, we all know this is a very flawed system, but to call it any sort of market based capitalist system is wrong.<BR/><BR/>The solution is NOT single payer. The solution is a true market. Create tax free health savings accounts packaged with lower cost catastrophic health plans. There is NO accountability in our system. We have all these health problems because of obese america with its heart attacks and diabetes. <BR/><BR/>We need to take away the emotional moral arguments here and strip it to the core of the issue. No matter what one thinks of it, the provider (Doctor, Nurse, Hospital, etc.) is providing a good and/or service and the patient is the consumer purchasing it. It is a market and the current system or a single payer are flawed systems. <BR/><BR/>My uncle practiced medicine for many years in a small city in Iowa, and told me that he felt that Medicaid/Medicare made it much more difficult and prior to that Doctors practiced on a sliding scale, which was somewhat part of the ethics of the medical society. The cost of administration is so ridiculous in the current system its a joke. <BR/><BR/>As an employer and manager of a few different sized organizations I have seen less than double digit increases in our rates only twice since 2000, and that was because we made a change in the plan that usually raised the deductible or was more managed care. <BR/><BR/>This is a perfect example of how bought and paid for our government is at the federal level. I can hardly stomach watching all these people hop around the state. Each and every one is beholden to an economic sector of some sort. Don't just hit the Republicans here. The Dems roll right over for the telecommunications and entertainment industries.<BR/><BR/>Vote for a Change in 2008, avoid the 2 parties!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com