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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (3256)	12/15/2007 6:58:14 PM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

<<<Medicare and the Myth of Lower Admin Costs healthcarebs.com; From what I can see that is the opinion of an unnamed blogger. <<<<Medicare's Hidden Costs cahi.org; This is from a private insurers lobby group with some vague statements. <<<The Cost to Administer Medicare Versus the Cost to Administer Private Health Plans--The Difference Isn't Anything Close to 25% healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com; That is right. It may not be close to 25%. It could be more. Do you think Humana has a business model where EBITDA is less than 25%. Remember they also have advertising costs.

To: TimF who wrote (3256)	12/16/2007 8:08:40 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 42652

"We also raise an important, although heretofore unrecognized, issue that gives Medicare an inherent advantage on administrative costs. Because of the higher cost per beneficiary, Medicare administrative costs appear lower than they really are. If the numbers were adequately “handicapped” for comparison with the private sector, they would be in the 6 to 8 percent range." That's a good point. It's so hard to compare such disparate processes. And it's so hard to trust those who are offering comparisons.