When you go to the doctor, do you consider what your treatment will cost? Think about that. Do you actually consider what will be paid for your treatment? If you have insurance or Medicare, the answer to the question has to be "no". Oh, you may consider what the co-pay or the deductible will be, but you surely will not think about the actual cost of the treatment. Ninety-nine percent of the insured people who ago to the doctor do not even know what the cost of that treatment will be. After all, the insurance company pays the provider directly. So does Medicare. They may tell you months later what was paid, but few read the details. Even among those who actually read the details, the cost of the treatment has no effect on whether or not it gets done.
In a nutshell, the lack of cost consideration is the reason for the basic problems with Medicare and the entire American health system. If a senior goes to the doctor for treatment of arthritis and the doctor takes an x-ray during each visit, Medicare pays for those services. The problem, of course, is that Medicare does not order the services. That is done by the senior and the doctor, neither or whom is paying the cost. Not surprisingly, the result is that many more of these x-rays are taken than are medically necessary and the cost of the entire system goes up.
Have you ever considered how many hypochondriacs go to doctor after doctor seeking treatment when none is needed? With insurance/Medicare, that hypochondriac has no material expense for those visits. Nevertheless, we all pay the cost for those visits.
How about the doctors or labs who defraud insurance companies or Medicare? Most people don't even look at the paperwork that comes in connection with those claims. Certainly, only a tiny percentage look to see if the bills accurately reflect the actual services performed, and only a tiny percentage of the ones who look take any action if they see an overcharge. After all, the costs are paid by the insurance company or by the Medicare system. There is no incentive to review the bills. Just think how much fraud could be avoided if the patients could save their own money by finding mistakes (intentional or not) on the bills.
And what about extremely expensive medicines? Some of the newest cancer treatments cost tens of thousands of dollars per month but only extend the patient's life by a few weeks on average. In a world where patients paid at least part of the cost of treatment, that sort of medicine would not be used. Few people would want or be able to use up a large portion of their assets in order to have a few more weeks of chemotherapy and pain. It is only because insurance companies or Medicare pays these bills that such drugs make it to the market. But as the insurance companies and Medicare pay out millions for such marginal drug treatments, we all end up paying the cost through higher premiums and taxes.
This also illustrates another of the basic flaws of Obamacare. It does nothing to reduce the costs of treatment; it tries instead to get insurance for more people so that there will be more consumers who won't care about the costs they incur. Of course, Obamacare has failed even to achieve its intended objectives and has, instead, spread catastrophe in the healthcare field. But had Obamacare actually worked to increase coverage, it would still have made the basic problem worse rather than better.
America needs to focus now on reducing medical costs, not enlarging insurance coverage. When the ship has sprung a leak, it may be fun to get new blankets for the deck chairs, but it is still a waste of time. Unless you fix the leak, the entire ship will sink.
In a nutshell, the lack of cost consideration is the reason for the basic problems with Medicare and the entire American health system. If a senior goes to the doctor for treatment of arthritis and the doctor takes an x-ray during each visit, Medicare pays for those services. The problem, of course, is that Medicare does not order the services. That is done by the senior and the doctor, neither or whom is paying the cost. Not surprisingly, the result is that many more of these x-rays are taken than are medically necessary and the cost of the entire system goes up.
Have you ever considered how many hypochondriacs go to doctor after doctor seeking treatment when none is needed? With insurance/Medicare, that hypochondriac has no material expense for those visits. Nevertheless, we all pay the cost for those visits.
How about the doctors or labs who defraud insurance companies or Medicare? Most people don't even look at the paperwork that comes in connection with those claims. Certainly, only a tiny percentage look to see if the bills accurately reflect the actual services performed, and only a tiny percentage of the ones who look take any action if they see an overcharge. After all, the costs are paid by the insurance company or by the Medicare system. There is no incentive to review the bills. Just think how much fraud could be avoided if the patients could save their own money by finding mistakes (intentional or not) on the bills.
And what about extremely expensive medicines? Some of the newest cancer treatments cost tens of thousands of dollars per month but only extend the patient's life by a few weeks on average. In a world where patients paid at least part of the cost of treatment, that sort of medicine would not be used. Few people would want or be able to use up a large portion of their assets in order to have a few more weeks of chemotherapy and pain. It is only because insurance companies or Medicare pays these bills that such drugs make it to the market. But as the insurance companies and Medicare pay out millions for such marginal drug treatments, we all end up paying the cost through higher premiums and taxes.
This also illustrates another of the basic flaws of Obamacare. It does nothing to reduce the costs of treatment; it tries instead to get insurance for more people so that there will be more consumers who won't care about the costs they incur. Of course, Obamacare has failed even to achieve its intended objectives and has, instead, spread catastrophe in the healthcare field. But had Obamacare actually worked to increase coverage, it would still have made the basic problem worse rather than better.
America needs to focus now on reducing medical costs, not enlarging insurance coverage. When the ship has sprung a leak, it may be fun to get new blankets for the deck chairs, but it is still a waste of time. Unless you fix the leak, the entire ship will sink.
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