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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marc chatman who wrote (50847)	9/10/1999 3:59:00 PM
From: dfloydr	Respond to of 95453

OT/Health care: This health care issue drifts in and out of this thread. The theme is that it is likely to turn around dramatically as did the oil patch. Achtung! Caution! Pas Op! Attencion! Here in Scottsdale AZ our major hospital is losing around $1mm a month on family practices and the likes. This is about the richest town in the state. The hospital was thrilled to find that Dad had regular insurance because it meant that they got paid 88 cents on the dollar and joyfully wrote off the smaller than usual difference. Same thing in Washington State and CT. Medicare is still only paying 30 to 40 cents on the dollar for all bills, if they will even recognize them ... I presume so we can have a balanced budget. And there is no sign of the govt. paying more. Try to imagine getting paid 30 cents on the dollar for your services! Talking to doctors and friends in the business, I get the feeling there is no imperative to turn this industry around as there was in Oil. The only people suffering are the hospitals and docs and of course the patients ... and who gives a damn about them. Small wonder med school applications were down 8.7% last year and a further 5% this year. But until people get a fire in their belly about the outlook for medical care in this country and start howling at Congress, Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are going to keep up the savings game. If you want to see how bad the govt. idea of health care can be, visit your local Veteran's hospital with a needy patient. Oil's turn around was easy: "It's the price of Oil stupid!" All producing governments were going bust fast as were most other players in the industry world wide ... and everyone needs their oil today!!!! There was firm unanimity on the need for a change. US health care consists of a diffuse sea of hundreds of individuals, companies and plans. If docs talk to each other about their problems they are subject to anti-trust laws. And the biggest payor is a government that wants to balance its budget and is so far not feeling any heat for doing so on the backs of our sick and elderly. Then you have a public that is usually healthy and not paying attention. And of course all those evil doctors and colluding nurses and PA's. That image has come from a few hacks in the business and yet government has turned all docs into bad guys. With myths like that around and politics being what it is, I'll take my investments elsewhere. And maybe this whole subject should find itself a more appropriate thread. Adios.