Lazarus, I agree the system is broken, but Obamacare does NOT address the REALLY broken part of the system, and in fact they went out of their way to NOT address the most broken part: the fact that if you go to the ER with asnything remotely resembling a serious problem, you will be tested out the wazoo to make sure you don't have a potentially serious problem. This "overtesting", rather than just practicing good clinical medicine, comes as a result of overzealous malpractice attorneys who have all physicians practicing defensively. Even when they're convinced that a patient has a non life-threating illness, they feel required to "CYA", due to the potential liability of missing something. Add to that an increasingly demanding patient population "I came to get tests done, I want to know what's wrong", and the newly added government mandated Press-Gainey scores, where patient satisfaction is directly tied to reimbursement, and you have a recipe for an explosion in cost.
Another issue is people using the ER for minor ailments, like minor burns, heartburn, and warbliness. All 3 of these, and myriad others, can be treated in a walk-in Urgent Care facility at a fraction of the cost.
I worked in ER's for years, and was appalled at the number of ppl who came in at 3 a.m. for sore throats, earaches, back pain and the like, because they knew they wouldn't have to wait, and because it was "free".
Obamacare does nothing to address any of these behavioral problems, nor does it do anything to address those who live terrible lifestyles, and place the burden of the cost of their care on those of us who do our absolute best to live healthily.
OK, I'm off my soapbox. |
