Socialized medicine not the answer
There is no doubt the health care system is in a state of crisis in the U.S.. Health care is no longer an important issue, it’s an urgent issue. Health care costs are spiraling out of control and because our government is not willing to do what’s right, there is no end in sight.
In my opinion, litigation reform would be a good starting point. Law suits have more to do with spiraling health care than any other reason. Next, would be getting the pharmaceutical companies out of the pockets of government officials. According to Mercola.com Pharmaceutical Research and Manufaturers of America (PhRMA) will spend 72.7 million to lobby at the federal level, mainly congress, our law makers. It will spend 4.9 million to lobby the FDA, the very organization that regulates pharmaceuticals. PhRMA also plans on spending close to 50 million to loby the state level. Are you starting to get the point. With the fox guarding the hen house is it any wonder our health care costs are out of control?
Yes it’s obvious we need to reform our health care system. But one thing we should never do is socialize medicine. if you are wondering if the U.S. should become a single payer system like Canada, which is the system many use as their argument for socialized medicine, watch this video.
None of the proposals on the table are for a Canadian-style single-payer system.
Two suggestions: Ban insurance and pharma companies from lobbying for 10-yrs and then break up the companies into smaller companies to foster competition which will lead to lower costs.
Amen Dave.
Lobbying is the biggest problem with our government. Our politicians sell their souls instead of doing whats right.
A single payer system is not on the table, but it’s still a government take over that doesn’t address the real issues with health care. It is a social program that will have the same problems as Canada. Call it what you will. More Government is not the answer. Medicare and social sec are 2 examples of government efficiency, yet people want our government to take over more.
I like Dave’s suggestion.
Actually, the bill now has a provision that should help. The idea is that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements will now be subject to a review by a committee of doctors and health professionals who will then make recommendations on how to adjust reimbursements to encourage better care and use of more efficient care. Systems like the Mayo Clinic, who use a team approach and results based techniques (as opposed to pay for procedure) are in favor of this. It was initially a Republican idea, and the Obama administration is pushing this along with the Blue Dog Democrats, and now it has been accepted in the House bill.
The idea is that this committees recommendations have to be accepted or rejected IN FULL by the president. Congress can also reject them, but only if they vote to reject them.
The result is that you remove Congress, and thus the lobbyists, from having a direct say over individual reimbursement issues. The result would be more rational rules that rely more on medical outcomes and cost as opposed to politics.