tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125435810658312644.post8654409137433764568..comments2023-01-31T09:04:45.189-05:00Comments on Liberty At All Costs: Cleaning Up From The Old BlogDannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15304572506298209357noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125435810658312644.post-3670448480086594912010-02-19T12:55:54.187-05:002010-02-19T12:55:54.187-05:00Hi Ruth,
As always, thanks for your thoughts.
I&...Hi Ruth,<br /><br />As always, thanks for your thoughts.<br /><br />I'd like to focus for a moment on the areas where we agree.<br /><br />For example, I think we both want people to have access to the medical care they need to live. One of the reasons why I ping on nationalized health care systems is because they ration care in ways that are unhealthy for individuals. I've read several stories about Canadians that had to wait long enough to see a specialist for treatment that their relatively minor medical conditions actually became life threatening due to the delay. I know of outright denials of treatment in several European countries at various times over the last 20 years.<br /><br />Heck, I've got a half-Canuck lady friend who's family in Canada provides a steady stream of stories about delays in providing health care services. Services that you and I would wait only days....and in some cases hours....to receive.<br /><br />I believe that your concerns stem from the same sort of motivation. I'm pretty critical of the FDA approval process for similar reasons. I share your desire that people should be able to access the medical care they need with as few barriers to treatment as possible.<br /><br />I also agree that pricing for medical services is out of whack. Your MRI story is only one of many that show that there is a pricing disconnect in health care.<br /><br />Quite a few years ago, one of our progeny experienced a pretty severe laceration on his hand. The ER insisted that a specialist be called in to perform surgery as they didn't know if any tendons had been damaged.<br /><br />It looked to me like they could have stitched him up in the ER, but what do I know.<br /><br />The specialist was the only plastic surgeon in our area. When his bill arrived, it was for over $10,000. BCBS said that the reasonable and customary charge for that service was roughly $3,000. The doctor eventually caved and accepted the BCBS charge.<br /><br />Parenthetically, the same doctor is currently under investigation for allegedly providing BCBS with incorrect procedure codes in order to receive a higher payment for his services.<br /><br />Out of whack pricing for medical services and goods is one very big reason why I enthusiastically support the expanded use of medical savings accounts. Only when the patient is re-connected with the cost of service will we start to see some measure of effective cost containment in the medical arena.<br /><br />I agree that we have a single issue that seems to divide people. I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of that issue.<br /><br />In my opinion, some people recognize that the laws of economics [quality/speed/price - pick two] are as applicable to medicine as they are to other areas of the economy regardless of how much we may dislike the logical result of that fact. Progress occurs because of profit.<br /><br />Others believe that there is something unique about medicine that makes it immune to those laws of economics just because they want it to be that way.<br /><br />In any case, I think there are areas of where there is broad agreement where we could achieve some measure of progress. The real pity is that so few people are interested in that objective.Dannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15304572506298209357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125435810658312644.post-33083582830221241642010-02-18T10:00:57.356-05:002010-02-18T10:00:57.356-05:00I have to decide whether to address single points,...I have to decide whether to address single points, or to make a hugely long response, only take days to do it.<br /><br />There's a single point that seems to me like it's a linchpin for all the <i>other</i> arguments for profit/capitalism in medicine. You wrote :<br /><br /><i>"New technology is always expensive. Consider the PC, flat screen TVs, cell phones, washing machines, refrigerators, or any other modern convenience. When they were first introduced, it was always the affluent that could afford the latest and greatest products. Eventually, mass manufacturing, further technological developments, and the experiences of early customers caused the price to drop until almost anyone with a job could afford to acquire some level of technological advancement.<br /><br />"The same holds true for medical technology." </i><br /><br /><b>But no, Dann it doesn't.</b><br /><br />This is one, if not THE, foundation of the country's entire division on the issue, i honestly think.<br /><br />Consumers have power in choosing among many offerings, or refusing those luxury commodities, in a way that they don't have regarding health care. They do NOT have the time or the variety of choices, and they for sure do not have the ability to do without a scan or surgery until it's a basic middle-class expense, which is a major factor in bringing down the prices of iPods and HDTV.<br /><br />In my long ago post, i gave my personal example : a cat scan that cost 900 in 2002 and 4000 in 2006.<br /><br />I do not have choices. To travel an hour to other providers in order to pay 3500 instead of 4000 is an insignificant "choice" for people with small businesses or service-sector jobs.<br /><br />This is long enough for now, but i applaud your effort to come up with a fair pricing formula. I have to add that that "cost of development" needs to be seriously looked at and the layers of pointy-haired administrators sent to the block. An enormous percentage of US business consists of yammering, frequent-flying, paper-generating simians who are worth less than nothing, and who are welcome to take profit from HDTV's but not from the sick and hurting.<br /><br />I'm sure we'll keep going around about this, and i'll be happy to agree with you on a couple things you probably think but don't cover in this post (tort reform - YES.) But enough for now.Nostalgic for the Pleistocenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04369449719832190810noreply@blogger.com