This Time, We Won’t Scare

[Benny B]

June 11, 2009

This Time, We Won’t Scare
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Perhaps you’ve seen those television commercials denouncing health care reform as a plot to create a Canadian-style totalitarian nightmare, and you feel a wee bit scared.

Back in the election campaign, some people spread rumors that Barack Obama might be a secret Muslim conspiring to impose Sharia law on us. That seems unlikely now, but what if he’s a covert Canadian plotting to impose ... health care?

Rick Scott, a former hospital company chief executive, leads a group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights. He was forced to resign as C.E.O. after his company defrauded the government through overbilling and is now spending his time trying to block meaningful health care reform by terrifying us with commercials of “real-life stories of the victims of government-run health care.”

So here’s a far more representative “real-life story.”

Diane Tucker, 59, is an American lawyer who moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 2006. Like everyone else there, she now pays the equivalent of just $49 a month for health care.

Then one day two years ago, Ms. Tucker was working on her office computer when she noticed that she was having trouble typing with her right hand.

“I realized my hand was numb, so I tried to stand up to shake it out,” she remembered. “But I had trouble standing.”

A colleague called 911, and an ambulance rushed her to the nearest hospital.

“An emergency room doctor met me at the door, and they took me straight upstairs to the CT scan,” she recalled. A neurologist explained that she had suffered a stroke.

Ms. Tucker spent a week at the hospital. “The doctors were great, although there were also a couple of jerks,” she said. “The nursing staff was wonderful.”

Still, there were two patients to a room, and conditions weren’t as opulent as at some American hospitals. “The food was horrible,” she said.

Then again, the price was right. “They never spoke to me about money,” she said. “Not when I checked in, and not when I left.”

Scaremongers emphasize the waits for specialists in Canada, and there’s some truth to the stories. After the stroke, Ms. Tucker needed to make a routine appointment with a neurologist and an ophthalmologist to see if she should drive again. Initially, those appointments would have meant a two- or three-month wait, although in the end she managed to arrange them more quickly.

Ms. Tucker underwent three months of rehabilitation, including physical therapy several times a week. Again there was no charge, no co-payment.

Then, last year, Ms. Tucker fainted while on a visit to San Francisco, and an ambulance rushed her to the nearest hospital. But this was in the United States, so the person meeting her at the emergency room door wasn’t a doctor.

“The first person I saw was a lady with a computer,” she said, “asking me how I intended to pay the bill.” Ms. Tucker did, in fact, have insurance, but she was told she would have to pay herself and seek reimbursement.

Nothing was seriously wrong, and the hospital discharged her after five hours. The bill came to $8,789.29.

Ms. Tucker has since lost her job in the recession, but she says she’s stuck in Canada — because if she goes back to the United States, she will pay a fortune for private health insurance because of her history of a stroke. “I’m trying to find another job here,” she said. “I want to stay here because of medical insurance.”

Another advantage of the Canadian system, she says, is that it emphasizes preventive care. When a friend was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic, he was put in a free two-year program emphasizing an improved diet and lifestyle — and he emerged as no longer being prone to diabetes.

If Ms. Tucker’s story surprises you, you should know that Mr. Scott’s public relations initiative against health reform is led by the same firm that orchestrated the “Swift boat campaign” against Senator John Kerry in 2004. These commercials are just as false, for President Obama is not proposing government-run health care — just a public insurance element in the mix.

No doubt there are some genuine horror stories in Canada, as there are here in the United States.

But the bottom line is that America’s health care system spends nearly twice as much per person as Canada’s (building the wealth of hospital tycoons like Mr. Scott). Yet our infant mortality rate is 40 percent higher than Canada’s, and American mothers are 57 percent more likely to die in childbirth than Canadian ones.

In 1993, the “Harry and Louise” commercials frightened Americans into abandoning health reform. Let’s ensure those scare tactics don’t work this time.

[headhuntersix]

Initially, those appointments would have meant a two- or three-month wait, although in the end she managed to arrange them more quickly......HOW.

Ur healthcare isn't my problem. I don't work hard so u have healthcare, I work hard so I have healthcare. Is healthcare to much for u....go burn down John Edwards' house and blame shitbags like him for getting rich on ridiculous legal settlements. Or here's a thought work harder. Either way, not my problem. We can't even get Barry to say that illegal aliens won't be covered either.

[Kazan]

Again name me one program that the US government runs that hasn't become a giant red tape filled buracratic mess. One that doesn't end up costing 10X what was projected.

[headhuntersix]

Nothing...the only programs u get that even work for all those cost overuns are the US military and Federal law enforcement.

[Soul Crusher]

Again name me one program that the US government runs that hasn't become a giant red tape filled buracratic mess. One that doesn't end up costing 10X what was projected.

The DMV?
The Post Office?
SS?
Medicaid and Medicaid?
Prescription Drug?

None that I can think of.  How anyone could even remotely think that passing a mess like this is going to do anything other than cripple our economy even further is beyond belief.
 

[The True Adonis]

Initially, those appointments would have meant a two- or three-month wait, although in the end she managed to arrange them more quickly......HOW.

Ur healthcare isn't my problem. I don't work hard so u have healthcare, I work hard so I have healthcare. Is healthcare to much for u....go burn down John Edwards' house and blame shitbags like him for getting rich on ridiculous legal settlements. Or here's a thought work harder. Either way, not my problem. We can't even get Barry to say that illegal aliens won't be covered either.

Uh, Medical malpractice suits are less than ONE PERCENT of Healthcare Costs. Not even a Percent.  You may want to learn something before you propagate lies and myths.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/036480.html

[The True Adonis]

Furthermore,

Medical Malpractice is the THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH in America.
The terms iatrogenesis and iatrogenic artifact refer to adverse effects or complications caused by or resulting from medical treatment or advice.



iatrogenesis is a major phenomenon, and a severe risk to patients. A study carried out in 1981 more than one-third of illnesses of patients in a university hospital were iatrogenic, nearly one in ten were considered major, and in 2% of the patients, the iatrogenic disorder ended in death. Complications were most strongly associated with exposure to drugs and medications.[12] In another study, the main factors leading to problems were inadequate patient evaluation, lack of monitoring and follow-up, and failure to perform necessary tests.[13]
In the United State alone, recorded deaths per year (2000):
12,000—unnecessary surgery
7,000—medication errors in hospitals
20,000—other errors in hospitals
80,000—infections in hospitals
106,000—non-error, negative effects of drugs
Based on these figures, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Also, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease).
This totals 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes. In interpreting these numbers, note the following:
most data were derived from studies in hospitalized patients.
the estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort.
the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report. If higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/284/4/483

[headhuntersix]

I can do this all day......

New York hospitals will pay $1.3 billion in medical malpractice premiums in 2007, a figure that represents a 175% increase since 2000, according to a new analysis by the hospitals trade association.

Individual hospitals will pay tens of millions of dollars each, according to a Greater New York Hospital Association survey of its member hospitals.

Following the state Insurance Department's 14% hike in medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors that took effect July 1, hospital officials said their burden is likely to be felt even more acutely.

"Hospitals are being crushed by medical malpractice premium increases," the president of GNYHA, Kenneth Raske, said. "Hospitals can hire fewer nurses, and they are forced to delay capital expenditures."

For each hospital, there is a double-edged burden: the institution's liability costs and the expense of insuring doctors employed there.

Hospital executives said the recent hike in doctors' insurance rates, the biggest since 1993, would be tough to swallow. "To the extent that you're employing the physicians, it's a direct cost to the hospital," the senior vice president of finance at Montefiore Medical Center, Joel Perlman, said.

At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, insurance costs doubled between 2002 and 2006, hospital officials said. Currently, the hospital spends $150 million a year, or between 3% and 4% of its operating budget, on liability insurance.

"It's a necessary part of our operating budget," New York-Presbyterian's president and CEO, Dr. Herbert Pardes, said. He warned, however, that "enormous" liability costs were undercutting the ability of some doctors to run their offices.

For New York hospitals, whose average profit margin of 0.7% is among the thinnest nationwide, insurance eats up huge chunks of the budget.

"It's competing for dollars for things like staffing and the basic operation of the hospital," Dr. Pardes said.

Executives at hospitals in regions where malpractice insurance rates are higher said their burden is even more intense. Montefiore, which is in the Bronx, will pay more than $90 million in insurance premiums next year, a 300% increase since 2000, according Mr. Perlman.

He estimated that half of the hospital's malpractice insurance costs relate to maternity services. Currently, Montefiore pays $10,000 in malpractice insurance for each baby delivered, which amounts to a financial loss associated with each birth.

"It's a remarkably stark example of just how broken the system of malpractice is," he said.

In New York, where some have called for tort reform to alleviate the malpractice crisis, premiums are among the highest nationwide partly because of the number of suits brought and the increasingly high settlements.

"Hospitals are paying more, but I don't know what the alternative is," the vice president of the Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company, Edward Amsler, said. The recent insurance rate increase has escalated a feeling among doctors that they can no longer afford to practice, and many have sought support from hospitals.

Last month, 12 neurosurgeons in Westchester County who provide emergency coverage to a network of community hospitals there concluded that they required increased financial support from the hospitals operator, Stellaris Health Network.

In a letter to Stellaris's president, Arthur Nizza, the doctors described their financial situation as "untenable."

"I think the hospitals are going to choke on this," the president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, Dr. Robert Goldberg, said. "It frightens me," he said of the potential for understaffed emergency rooms.

In the Bronx, some maternity wards are operating with depleted ranks.

Executives at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in the Bronx said a shortage of obstetricians has resulted in the number of annual deliveries dropping to 1,700 from 3,600 10 years ago.

Hospital officials, including GNYHA's Mr. Raske, said they see a "glimmer of hope" in a task force appointed by Governor Spitzer last month that is charged with making recommendations for change. "There are proposals in Albany today that would serve to ameliorate these problems," Montefiore's Mr. Perlman said. "It would really be a shame if we had to wait for evidence of these consequences to health care providers because this malpractice situation isn't addressed."

[headhuntersix]

At a time when physicians are dealing with reimbursement cuts and higher expenses, the cost of medical malpractice insurance is skyrocketing nationwide.

Neil Thomas Katz, an orthopedic surgeon, lost his malpractice insurance when national insurer CNA decided to stop marketing the coverage in Hawaii this month. Katz, who paid $26,000 per year since 1997, says he received quotes ranging from $42,000 to $129,000 from the few carriers operating in town. The quotes also included "nose insurance," which covers potential future claims for the previous policy period.

"Because of Sept. 11 and the huge hit insurance companies took, they are distributing the costs to many different types of insurance including malpractice insurance," Katz says. "We have all of that facing us at the same time insurance companies continue to decrease reimbursements to physicians for services they provide. What people don't realize is the costs doctors have to face and that nobody's making money anymore."

Hospitals in the state require most physicians to carry a certain level of malpractice insurance individually, which is a significant burden on doctors, says Philip Hellreich, former president and current legislative chairman of the Hawaii Medical Association.

"Physicians are in an increasingly hostile business environment. We're the only industry in the country where our prices are fixed but our costs are unlimited," he says. "As our costs go up we're the one industry that can't pass the cost on to consumers."

Some malpractice insurance rates nationwide have increased from 20 percent to 100 percent depending on the specialty, Hellreich says.

"That's a major hit in an economic environment that's slow," he says. "The economy is bad nationwide and it's especially bad here in Hawaii."

Malpractice insurance costs held steady for most of the 1990s and is beginning to inch up at the worst time, says City Councilman Duke Bainum, who also is a general practitioner.

"People realize, given the current system, there's very little remuneration and lots of headaches," he says. "There's only a select few specialists and surgeons who make big bucks and the rest of the people are working in a stressful, dangerous job for little pay."

Approximately 24 orthopedic surgeons have left the islands since 1995 because of the high costs of doing business, says Linda Rasmussen, former president of the Hawaii Orthopedic Association. Currently, 65 orthopedic surgeons operate in the state, she says.

"A lot of surgeons are making less than they were making 20 years ago," she says. "We don't make our expenses now and what we're reimbursed does not cover our costs."

Medical Insurance Exchange of California, which covers approximately 1,200 Hawaii physicians, will increase malpractice insurance rates by 5 percent next year, says Ron Neupauer, vice president of Medical Insurance Exchange's operating company Medical Underwriters of California.

The increase is significantly lower than in other states where insurance rates are rising by the double digits, he says.

"We're physician owned, so our rates reflect the costs of claims," he says. "We're seeing a lot of activity in commercial companies throughout the country backing out of the business or raising rates."

Bainum and other physicians fear the national trend will discourage interest in the medical field as people seek better paying jobs.

"Medicine is changing, not just malpractice insurance," Bainum says. "We're seeing a contraction in the medical care system right now. If more and more doctors leave the practice, the general quality of medical care will go down."

[The True Adonis]

I can do this all day......

New York hospitals will pay $1.3 billion in medical malpractice premiums in 2007, a figure that represents a 175% increase since 2000, according to a new analysis by the hospitals trade association.

Individual hospitals will pay tens of millions of dollars each, according to a Greater New York Hospital Association survey of its member hospitals.

Following the state Insurance Department's 14% hike in medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors that took effect July 1, hospital officials said their burden is likely to be felt even more acutely.

"Hospitals are being crushed by medical malpractice premium increases," the president of GNYHA, Kenneth Raske, said. "Hospitals can hire fewer nurses, and they are forced to delay capital expenditures."

For each hospital, there is a double-edged burden: the institution's liability costs and the expense of insuring doctors employed there.

Hospital executives said the recent hike in doctors' insurance rates, the biggest since 1993, would be tough to swallow. "To the extent that you're employing the physicians, it's a direct cost to the hospital," the senior vice president of finance at Montefiore Medical Center, Joel Perlman, said.

At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, insurance costs doubled between 2002 and 2006, hospital officials said. Currently, the hospital spends $150 million a year, or between 3% and 4% of its operating budget, on liability insurance.

"It's a necessary part of our operating budget," New York-Presbyterian's president and CEO, Dr. Herbert Pardes, said. He warned, however, that "enormous" liability costs were undercutting the ability of some doctors to run their offices.

For New York hospitals, whose average profit margin of 0.7% is among the thinnest nationwide, insurance eats up huge chunks of the budget.

"It's competing for dollars for things like staffing and the basic operation of the hospital," Dr. Pardes said.

Executives at hospitals in regions where malpractice insurance rates are higher said their burden is even more intense. Montefiore, which is in the Bronx, will pay more than $90 million in insurance premiums next year, a 300% increase since 2000, according Mr. Perlman.

He estimated that half of the hospital's malpractice insurance costs relate to maternity services. Currently, Montefiore pays $10,000 in malpractice insurance for each baby delivered, which amounts to a financial loss associated with each birth.

"It's a remarkably stark example of just how broken the system of malpractice is," he said.

In New York, where some have called for tort reform to alleviate the malpractice crisis, premiums are among the highest nationwide partly because of the number of suits brought and the increasingly high settlements.

"Hospitals are paying more, but I don't know what the alternative is," the vice president of the Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company, Edward Amsler, said. The recent insurance rate increase has escalated a feeling among doctors that they can no longer afford to practice, and many have sought support from hospitals.

Last month, 12 neurosurgeons in Westchester County who provide emergency coverage to a network of community hospitals there concluded that they required increased financial support from the hospitals operator, Stellaris Health Network.

In a letter to Stellaris's president, Arthur Nizza, the doctors described their financial situation as "untenable."

"I think the hospitals are going to choke on this," the president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, Dr. Robert Goldberg, said. "It frightens me," he said of the potential for understaffed emergency rooms.

In the Bronx, some maternity wards are operating with depleted ranks.

Executives at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in the Bronx said a shortage of obstetricians has resulted in the number of annual deliveries dropping to 1,700 from 3,600 10 years ago.

Hospital officials, including GNYHA's Mr. Raske, said they see a "glimmer of hope" in a task force appointed by Governor Spitzer last month that is charged with making recommendations for change. "There are proposals in Albany today that would serve to ameliorate these problems," Montefiore's Mr. Perlman said. "It would really be a shame if we had to wait for evidence of these consequences to health care providers because this malpractice situation isn't addressed."

Again, MEDICAL MALPRACTICE Insurance and suits are less than ONE PERCENT of the cost of Healthcare.  Your article only proves my point.  You REALLY are not bright at all.

HH6= Third-Grade Education

[headhuntersix]

Does it really retard......ur a cut and paste warrior.  York hospitals will pay $1.3 billion in medical malpractice premiums in 2007, a figure that represents a 175% increase since 2000, according to a new analysis by the hospitals trade association.

That seem slike alot of money to me. Hmmmmm

[The True Adonis]

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE Suits and Insurance account for LESS THAN






of Healthcare costs.

[headhuntersix]

Seems to me thats were the reform needs to be...insurance companies.

From the CBO
The past few years have seen a sharp increase in premiums for medical malpractice liability insurance, which health care professionals buy to protect themselves from the costs of being sued (see Figure 1). On average, premiums for all physicians nationwide rose by 15 percent between 2000 and 2002--nearly twice as fast as total health care spending per person. The increases during that period were even more dramatic for certain specialties: 22 percent for obstetricians/gynecologists and 33 percent for internists and general surgeons.(1) (For a definition of malpractice and other terms used in this brief, see Box 1

[The True Adonis]

Seems to me thats were the reform needs to be...insurance companies.

From the CBO
The past few years have seen a sharp increase in premiums for medical malpractice liability insurance, which health care professionals buy to protect themselves from the costs of being sued (see Figure 1). On average, premiums for all physicians nationwide rose by 15 percent between 2000 and 2002--nearly twice as fast as total health care spending per person. The increases during that period were even more dramatic for certain specialties: 22 percent for obstetricians/gynecologists and 33 percent for internists and general surgeons.(1) (For a definition of malpractice and other terms used in this brief, see Box 1

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE Suits and Insurance account for LESS THAN






of Healthcare costs.

[The True Adonis]

FACT: The cost of medical malpractice liability premiums amount to less than one percent of total health care costs.

The Consumer Federation of America reports that medical malpractice premiums comprise only 0.59 percent of national health care costs - so even eliminating medical liability altogether would do little to reduce health care costs.

[The True Adonis]

COSTS OF THE CURRENT MEDICAL MALPRACTICE SYSTEM
ARE MUCH LOWER THAN PEOPLE THINK

Medical malpractice claims and premiums are a tiny percentage of the total costs of health care in this country. 

Medical malpractice payouts are less than one percent of total U.S. health care costs.  All “losses” (verdicts, settlements, legal fees, etc.) have stayed under one percent for the last 18 years.  Moreover, medical malpractice premiums are less than one percent of total U.S. health care costs as well. Dropping for nearly two decades, malpractice premiums have stayed below one percent of health care costs. Americans for Insurance Reform, “Think Malpractice is Driving Up Health Care Costs? Think Again,” http://www.insurance-reform.org/pr/AIRhealthcosts.pdf.
The Congressional Budget Office found that “Malpractice costs account for less than 2 percent of [health care] spending.” Congressional Budget Office, Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice 1, 6 (Jan. 8, 2004).
Medical malpractice cases are a tiny percentage of tort cases filed each year and the vast majority settle without litigation.

Medical malpractice cases account for only about four percent of tort cases. Examining the Work of State Courts, 2005, A National Perspective from the Court Statistics Project (2006) at 29.
In the Harvard closed claims study, only fifteen percent of claims were decided by trial verdict. Other research shows that 90 percent of cases are settled without jury trial, with some estimates indicating that the figure is as high as 97 percent. Testimony of  Neil Vidmar, Russell M. Robinson, II Professor of Law, Duke Law School before The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, “Hearing on Medical Liability: New Ideas for Making the System Work Better for Patients,” June 22, 2006 at 17.
Contrary to popular myth, few injured patients file lawsuits.

Between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year (and 300,000 are injured) due to medical errors in hospitals alone. Yet eight times as many patients are injured as ever file a claim; 16 times as many suffer injuries as receive any compensation. National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, “To Err is Human” (1999); Harvard Medical Practice Study (1990).
At the highest level, the estimated number of medical injuries (in hospitals and otherwise) is more than one million per year; approximately 85,000 malpractice suits are filed annually. “With about ten times as many injuries as malpractice claims, the only conclusion possible is that injured patients rarely file lawsuits.” David A. Hyman and Charles Silver, “Medical Malpractice Litigation and Tort Reform: It's the Incentives, Stupid,”59 Vand. L. Rev. 1085, 1089 (May 2006) (citing Brian Ostrom, Neal Kauder & Neil LaFontain, Examining the Work of State Courts (2003) at 23).
Medical malpractice claims are not “exploding”.

According to Public Citizen’s analysis of National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) data, between 1991 and 2005, the total number of malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors declined 15.4 percent (with judgments and settlements); the number of malpractice payments per 100,000 Americans dropped more than ten percent. Public Citizen, Congress Watch, The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax: NPDB Data Continue to Show Medical Liability System Produces Rational Outcomes, (January 2007).
Medical malpractice payouts are far smaller than commonly believed and are declining.

According to Public Citizen’s analysis of National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) data, “The average payment for a medical malpractice verdict in 1991 was $284,896.  In 2005, the average was $461,524.  Adjusting for inflation, however, shows that the average is actually declining.  The 2005 average adjusted for inflation is only $260,890 — a decline of 8 percent since 1991.” Public Citizen, Congress Watch, The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax: NPDB Data Continue to Show Medical Liability System Produces Rational Outcomes, (January 2007) at 5, 9.
Public Citizen also found that the total number of malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors, including judgments and settlements, declined 15.4 percent from 2001-2005 (from 16,588 in 2001 to 14,033 in 2005) and “the number of payments per 100,000 people in the U.S. also fell since 2001 – from 5.82 to 4.73 – a decline of 18.6 percent. Since 1991, the number of payments per 100,000 people declined more than 10 percent.”
Total medical malpractice payouts, for injuries and deaths caused by medical negligence in the nation, have recently hovered between $5 billion and $6 billion annually. This is less than half of what Americans pay for dog and cat food each year. Americans for Insurance Reform, Stable Losses/Unstable Rates, 2007, http://www.insurance-reform.org/StableLosses04.pdf; The Pet Food Institute puts these figures at $13 to $14 billion annually over the past few years. See, http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/reference_pet_data.cfm

[GigantorX]

That may be the actual "cost".

But I don't see anything in there about malpractice insurance costs for the doctors and the how those types of things get passed on to the patient.

Instead of posting up a # and being the Google Warrior that you are, you should probably attempt to answer his question.

You could just Google his query or assertion and then paste it up on here and pretend it's your own thoughts.

[The True Adonis]

That may be the actual "cost".

But I don't see anything in there about malpractice insurance costs for the doctors and the how those types of things get passed on to the patient.

Instead of posting up a # and being the Google Warrior that you are, you should probably attempt to answer his question.

You could just Google his query or assertion and then paste it up on here and pretend it's your own thoughts.

That makes no sense.  Why would I just post something that I make up without evidence when I have access to years and years worth of research that is indisputable?

Why would you want me to just make something up out of thin air?

[headhuntersix]

Yeah..thats what u get with TA..a cut and paste war without substance. The stuff I posted shows costs going up massively.The reports show that insurance companies need to be looked at. Those costs get past on to the patient. TA we have access to the same stuff....its called the internet.

[The True Adonis]

That may be the actual "cost".

But I don't see anything in there about malpractice insurance costs for the doctors and the how those types of things get passed on to the patient.

Instead of posting up a # and being the Google Warrior that you are, you should probably attempt to answer his question.

You could just Google his query or assertion and then paste it up on here and pretend it's your own thoughts.

Scroll back up and read the words "premium".  Do you know what those are?

Also, please click the links I provided as the information deepens the further you go.  Don`t be so scared of doing a little research.

[The True Adonis]

Yeah..thats what u get with TA..a cut and paste war without substance. The stuff I posted shows costs going up massively.The reports show that insurance companies need to be looked at. Those costs get past on to the patient. TA we have access to the same stuff....its called the internet.

The stuff you posted only furthers my argument of the fact that Medical Malpractice suits, insurance costs, payouts and litigation, appeals COMBINED still result in LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF HEALTHCARE COSTS!
DESPITE the FACT that
Medical Malpractice is the THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH in America.
The terms iatrogenesis and iatrogenic artifact refer to adverse effects or complications caused by or resulting from medical treatment or advice.

[headhuntersix]

Dude u can fly it from a fucking plane and make it bigger if u want...costs are going up.

[kcballer]

Initially, those appointments would have meant a two- or three-month wait, although in the end she managed to arrange them more quickly......HOW.

Ur healthcare isn't my problem. I don't work hard so u have healthcare, I work hard so I have healthcare. Is healthcare to much for u....go burn down John Edwards' house and blame shitbags like him for getting rich on ridiculous legal settlements. Or here's a thought work harder. Either way, not my problem. We can't even get Barry to say that illegal aliens won't be covered either.

HH6 what happens if you or a family member contracts and expensive illness of disease and the premiums sky rocket to a point where you can no longer afford them? Or when because of some disclaimer reason through no fault of your own, you insurance is declined or revoked? You do know they have PI's that investigate every single claim and their job is to find reasons to deny your claim, you realise that right?  In Washington state close to 1 million people will be uninsured due to job losses, cost cuts, benefit plans being cut by employers etc.  Some may be lazy yes but what about those people who have done nothing wrong, but become a victim or circumstance? Are you so callous as to say they do not deserve medical treatment?

As to the solution fo health care.  It needs to be a bit of both.  I believe in a universal system but with a tax break for those wanting to pay for private insurance.  This will still enable the best medical care for those willing to pay for it (as the system does now) but also allow those who can not afford it to receive medical attention.  There will never be a perfect way but that doesn't mean that people should not have coverage.  

[The True Adonis]

Dude u can fly it from a fucking plane and make it bigger if u want...costs are going up.

That still does not change that even with rising costs it still is LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of HEALTHCARE COSTS.  


Put it this way, if we wiped Malpractice totally off the books (even though it is the third leading cause of death in America and would be a travesty to have no protection), you would not notice a thing financially as it only accounts for LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF HEALTHCARE COSTS!

[headhuntersix]

Go ahead post it again...