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

To: John Koligman who wrote (6141)	2/16/2009 8:28:48 PM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Yeah, I know that SS will need adjustments in the future in order to keep up with the retirement needs of the boomers. Understatement of the Century. You're talking $50 Trillion dollars between SS & Medicare. As for Medicare, all my relatives on it seem to have no problem at all going to their doctors and having things taken care of, which is not the case with others that have health insurance. What the average consumer, including your relatives, don't understand about Medicare is that without commercial insurance, Medicare couldn't exist. Why? Because Medicare pays so little for most procedures that physicians and hospitals could not even break even on what Medicare pays. One of the things we deal with chronically is trying to insure that clinics don't get "topheavy" in Medicare patients, as it will break them in a hurry. Even United Health, which wields more power than any other commercial insurer, pays far better than Medicare. Most people who support major renovation of our health care system are people who don't understand the issues involved. Even some physicians I encounter are in that boat, since most physicians don't know anything about the business end of their operation. There are things that can be done to improve the current system and they should be done. But having government take over a larger portion of our health care system than they already administer is a seriously big mistake.

To: John Koligman who wrote (6141)	2/17/2009 10:49:19 AM
From: Lane3	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

As for Medicare, all my relatives on it seem to have no problem at all going to their doctors and having things taken care of, which is not the case with others that have health insurance. I've been on Medicare for a year. I've already had several costs pass through to my Blue Cross because Medicare didn't pay. If your relatives aren't having any problem it's because their doctors don't recommend anything that Medicare won't pay for and they have no idea what they may be missing in medical services. Most doctors don't recommend anything that the patient's insurance won't cover. I had to tell my doctor directly that I didn't want her to practice to the Medicare guidelines, that I was prepared to pay the difference if need be. I had to tell her a couple of times before she believed me.