tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post4009298338659638906..comments2023-09-29T06:58:20.125-07:00Comments on Badtux the Snarky Penguin: How to provide universal healthcareBadTuxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-56132863357257873652009-08-15T04:12:20.676-07:002009-08-15T04:12:20.676-07:00http://www.farleftside.com/2009/8-3-09.gif><i>http://www.farleftside.com/2009/8-3-09.gif></i>Duckiputzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07474521994011071213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-91463422823659394802009-08-14T08:32:49.575-07:002009-08-14T08:32:49.575-07:00It would seem the problem is not that we need affo...It would seem the problem is not that we need affordable care for all . The problem seems to more be one of perception . People percieve National Health Care to be scary , even tho the VA and Medicare work . The real problem seems to be convincing people to go against the Anti Care advertising (screamers&deathers) and demand what is good for all of us . How can we let big money take away such and important thing as National Healthcare ? <br />Hey didn't we go to the moon a couple times ? You'd think this would be easy . Whatever happened to convincing politicians that could move whole sections of the country forward at one time ?<br /> a tired of the debate ; w3skiw3skihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13993709956954374919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-38470460366256597252009-08-14T00:31:06.872-07:002009-08-14T00:31:06.872-07:00Neal, that's a hybrid plan, a mix of the socia...Neal, that's a hybrid plan, a mix of the socialist salaried doctor model and the singlepayer model. There's nothing particularly novel about it, the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser-Permanente already work in a similar manner except that they're paid by employers rather than by the government. The main problem with the HMO model that you propose is that it doesn't work in sparsely-populated areas. There is one doctor in Moose Jaw, Montana. The other problem is that salaried doctors tend to retire on the job -- we need at least some incentive for those doctors to see an acceptable number of patients otherwise they will see as few as they can get away with seeing. <br /><br />There's nothing inherent in a single-payer model that prevents capping physician reimbursements at expenses past a certain point. The doctor in Moose Jaw turns in a spreadsheet of expenses plus number of patients who've visited his office in the past month, the payer gives him his expenses plus a salary scaled by number of patients (to keep him from retiring on the job) capped at a certain amount, and there we go. And we tax at 100% any profit he makes from any other medical-related enterprises so he can't do profit-sharing from a hospital or medical testing company to game the system by prescribing unnecessary tests or hospitalizations.<br /><br />For that matter, there's nothing in a multi-payer system that prevents this kind of cost control, we'd just need an intermediary claims processing level to handle the cap. What is lacking right now is political will. And that political will is going to remain lacking until the situation reaches crisis point, because politicians need two things to get elected -- votes, and money. And they don't want to alienate either of them, sigh.<br /><br />- Badtux the Healthcare PenguinBadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-74856629028590978332009-08-13T22:54:59.841-07:002009-08-13T22:54:59.841-07:00It is possible to design a universal coverage heal...It is possible to design a universal coverage health care system with incentives to increase quality of care and control costs:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.3dsafety.com/thoughts-on-healthcare.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.3dsafety.com/thoughts-on-healthcare.htm</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10812217736819109915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-14316230107246176512009-08-13T15:49:46.546-07:002009-08-13T15:49:46.546-07:00There is the story about the fundamentalist who to...There is the story about the fundamentalist who told his flock water will flow uphill if you pray hard enough. Someone later objected that the statement was not true; he had tried it and water had continued to flow downhill. The pastor/minister/con artist said that only proves my statement - you were not praying hard enough.<br /><br />So it is for the 'free market' health care advocates. They admit to any fault that you finally prove, but then calim it only proves -= THE MARKETS ARE NOT FREE ENOUGH!!<br /><br />As you have pointed out til your beak is weary - no where on the planet does the health care system that they advocate work unless you define 'work' as profit the insurance companies.<br /><br />Many thanks for your insight.TampaDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927689342520971279noreply@blogger.com