RSSGovernment Health Insurance Fails Because It Violates Economics
J.J. Jackson | July 28, 2009
Consider this as we continue to debate the insanity of a socialized national health insurance scheme. I would say “plan” but the craziness of the concept doesn’t quite rise to that level of competence. So consider this … we already have a “national” health care and insurance plan. Actually we have several of them; Medicare & Medicaid just to name the most prominent and SCHIP is yet another.
Now consider how well they are working. Doctors around the country are rejecting taking on new Medicare and Medicaid patients. Why are they doing this? Are they heartless? Nope. The simple fact is the government isn’t paying as well as private insurance when it comes to reimbursements and doctors simply cannot afford to take on these patients.
Doctors at the Maple City Health Care Center, a neighborhood clinic where the toddler’s family receives most care, couldn’t diagnose the problem. The child needed to see a specialist, but no local dermatologist would agree to accept Medicaid, the government’s safety net plan. Instead, Antonia Mejorado, 33, has to drive nearly two hours to see a dermatologist willing to treat her daughter’s potentially serious illness.
“There is not a doctor around here that takes Medicaid,” said Mejorado, whose husband, Osvaldo Soto, 33, has recently seen his hours cut to almost nothing at a local mechanic shop.
…
Medicaid reimbursement rates can be as much as 40 percent lower than those for private insurance, according to John Holohan, the director of the Health Policy Research Center at The Urban Institute, a Washington think tank.
Michigan, for example, recently announced a 4 percent cut in payments to doctors, dentists and hospitals who treat Medicaid patients. The move prompted a new exodus of doctors who’ve decided to limit care.
“I love what I do, but I can’t keep getting cuts from Medicaid,” Dr. John Pfenninger, a family physician in Midland, Mich., told the Associated Press. “It’s time to say no. “
If national socialized health care and insurance passes the Congress and gets approved by President Obama you can count on getting the same treatment; doctors turning away patients because the government simply doesn’t pay enough. Medicaid is a huge line item in state budgets and nationally it accounted for $224 billion out of the $3.1 trillion dollars the federal government plans to spend (source). And with all that money they cannot even do as good of a job as the private insurance industry at getting people in to see the doctor or paying the doctor.
Compare this travesty to the private insurance which is readily accepted gleefully by nearly ever doctor. In 2007, the latest data I can find, the top 5 insurance companies posted revenues (not profits) of nearly $405 billion and covered 211,956,356 persons. Compare this to Medicaid which covers just about 49 million people in 2008 (source)
Run the math. $224 billion/ 49 million people = $4,571 per person and lower reimbursement rates than private insurance that clicks at just $1,191 per person. So how is a government plan going to reduce costs when government plans are already less efficient at delivering care than private insurance? Shh … don’t ask too many questions. Big brother doesn’t like that!
It is ok though because you know once the government gets their next entitlement program imposed on us they next step will be to put a mandate on doctors and other medical professionals that they will see patients for the pittance they approve them to be paid and like it. Yes comrades, paradise awaits!
Contributor's website: http://www.libertyreborn.com
Content posted by users from other sites is posted for commentary and news purposes under fair use and each author is responsible for their own postings and a particular posting should not be construed as being endorsed by this site or its owner.
3 Responses to “Government Health Insurance Fails Because It Violates Economics”
Leave a Reply
Loading ...Recommended Reading:
The discouraging fact about this rush to Socialized Medicine is that all legislators regardless of the political philosophy are working to create a huge government bureaucracy to control our health care industry. The size of this project shouts efficiency is impossible and waste and fraud are inescapable. The decision makers will be so far removed form the providers of health care that every decision will be made based on financial considerations and not on the needs of the patients. This will result in a system that will have the efficiency and dedication to service of a DMV worker.
After seeing that no matter how much they care they cannot provide the required service, the workers will have the passion of paper pushers. Just as is the case in every country with a state run health care system, fraud, and black market will flourish.
Since there will be no room profit, private health care organizations will quickly disappear and state clinks will take over. Health care providers will be paid much less. This can be seen by the payments that are made by Medicaid. They are about 41 cents on the dollar that private insurance firms pay. With that kind of a pay scale, we won’t find the best of the best getting into health care. T
The wait time for major care will be too long for many patients to survive their illness. The only recourse one will have will be to bribe doctors and nurses to allow them to cut in line and the care needed.
This rush to socialism must be stopped else, we end up like every socialist state; lousy major care and people dying. A major change in local, state, and federal government legislators is needed.
USA: 16% of GDP spent on health care rated 37th in the world (between Slovenia and Costa Rica). 2.4 Doctors per 1000 population.
France: 11.8 of GDP spent on health care rated #1 in the world by WHO. 3.4 doctors per 1000.
The USA could save $1.4 TRILLION per year if they had France manage their medical care delivery system.
Tell me again why socialized medicine would cost more and would lead to lousy medical care?
Like so many people (liberals wanting something so badly they simply cannot stand not having it mostly) rob you are ignorant of the facts. The WHO stats you cite actually do not rank the US #37 in healthc care. Look at the stats and stop regurgitating liberal talking points.
The reality is that the study actually ranks the US #1 in responsiveness to the needs of the patient. That is what health care is all about. So where does the #37 ranking come from? It comes from the fact that all the other categories the study used rank how socialized the health care systems of the counties are.
In reality the study ranks America #37 in socialized medicine. France is someone around #17 in taking care of its patients needs. Pretty sucky huh? Yeah, I know … reality bites. But the study actually shows that you get what you pay for.