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

To: John Koligman who wrote (7603)	7/17/2009 12:50:49 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

"Global payments, it is thought, would reward health care providers for keeping their patients well rather than for merely treating their ailments. If the cost of treating a patient was less than the global payment, the provider networks, called accountable care organizations, would keep the difference as profit." Haven't we been there, done that, and isn't it called an "HMO"?

To: John Koligman who wrote (7603)	7/17/2009 9:54:46 PM
From: skinowski	1 Recommendation Respond to of 42652

If the cost of treating a patient was less than the global payment, the provider networks, called accountable care organizations, would keep the difference as profit. Been there.... this will encourage limiting access to services. The big problem is supposed to be costs - and the number of uninsureds? Maybe the answer is in focusing on the problem - rather than having bureaucrats take over everything. Why not open free clinics for those who can't afford insurance, or simply don't want to bother. Those clinics can be simple, with no frills - yes, possibly with long waits... staffed - at least in part - by doctors who are still in training (supervised, of course, by experienced clinicians). The majority of Americans are happy with the existing system - so, tweak it, improve it - don't dump it. Deregulate as much as possible, shut down useless agencies such as JCAH, pass tort reform which would compensate malpractice victims in most cases through arbitration... introduce some sort of a national catastrophic coverage. Try to minimize controls, rather than introduce thousands of new ones. Before you know, you'll be talking about a realistic, positive reform which would be built on American traditions. That would be far better than handing over 17% of GDP to (for the most part pain in the butt) bureaucrats... and politicians. There is no reason to expect that they wouldn't mess it up.