Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-06-2009, 06:46 AM
 
Location: Michigan
29,391 posts, read 55,395,429 times
Reputation: 22042

Advertisements

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans spent $2.2 trillion on healthcare in 2007, or $7,421 per person, according to a U.S. government report released on Tuesday.

The 6.1 percent rate of growth over 2006 was the lowest since 1998, mostly because growth in spending on drugs slowed, the team at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found.

U.S. health spending hits $2.2 trillion in 2007 | U.S. | Reuters
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-06-2009, 08:14 AM
 
Location: Heartland Florida
9,324 posts, read 26,651,377 times
Reputation: 5038
Amazing and most of that money is simply wasted. How much longer will government support allow medical care costs to spiral out of control? Perhaps once states give up on medicaid and federal medicare collapses, the medical industry will have to find ways to economize.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 09:09 AM
 
20,187 posts, read 23,745,052 times
Reputation: 9283
Quote:
Originally Posted by tallrick View Post
Amazing and most of that money is simply wasted. How much longer will government support allow medical care costs to spiral out of control? Perhaps once states give up on medicaid and federal medicare collapses, the medical industry will have to find ways to economize.
How is the money "simply wasted" exactly?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 09:30 AM
 
14,986 posts, read 23,761,138 times
Reputation: 26473
$800 billion, one third of medical costs, was medicare and medicaid. That's one third of total medical costs that covers, what, 1% of citizens? Gives you a picture of what a future universal health care plan managed by the government will look like. You can just imagine how much waste and fraud are in those programs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 09:38 AM
 
20,187 posts, read 23,745,052 times
Reputation: 9283
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd714 View Post
$800 billion, one third of medical costs, was medicare and medicaid. That's one third of total medical costs that covers, what, 1% of citizens? Gives you a picture of what a future universal health care plan managed by the government will look like. You can just imagine how much waste and fraud are in those programs.
Actually medicare itself composes approximately 13% and medicaid covers approximately 14% of the US population. That means together they cover about 27% of the population (roughly 1/3 of the U.S. population). Putting that in perspective... not exactly waste now is it?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 10:15 AM
 
14,986 posts, read 23,761,138 times
Reputation: 26473
Quote:
Originally Posted by evilnewbie View Post
Actually medicare itself composes approximately 13% and medicaid covers approximately 14% of the US population. That means together they cover about 27% of the population (roughly 1/3 of the U.S. population). Putting that in perspective... not exactly waste now is it?
Many are eligible for both, so 27% is incorrect. But it's more than 1% yes. Also these programs don't cover ALL of the medical coverage of those eligible, only a portion. It's also user funded to certain degree. With all that it still costs 1/3 of total medical care, or about 20% of the U.S. budget, and increasing every year. 1% of total medical care costing 35% of the total cost could very well be a fair estimation.

The programs are worthwhile and well intended. The point is, and I don't think it's a point of contention with anyone, that there is ALOT of waste and fraud in the medicare and medicaid programs and I blame the inefficiency and beaurcratic nature of government for that.

Another point, of course, is that we already have this 'socialized medical care' to a certain degree that everyone preaches about as the savior of all that is wrong in the U.S., and look at the cost. But that's a political topic best discussed elsewhere.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 10:44 AM
 
20,187 posts, read 23,745,052 times
Reputation: 9283
Very rarely do people qualify for both and only in unusual circumstances... most of medicaid coverage is for children which would almost never qualify for medicare (I would say half of medicaid is children).. that leaves the other 20 M on medicaid for adults and I doubt even 5% of them even qualify for medicare... so 27% is a very accurate percentage and should occupy 1/3 of the budget. What you also fail to realize is that the sickest people tend to be older people (go to any hospital and you will see just that)... given that the majority of older people are in medicare, that should strike you with the oddity that they only occupy 1/3 of the budget when it should be much MUCH more... the problem isn't that medicare is handled inefficiently (because it is way beyond efficiency to the point that health care is being compromised - i.e. government trying to make it cheaper)... The problem is with funding... you hear medicare/medicaid cuts and cuts translates to less health care and you take the burden of the higher costs... the next time you advocate the government of taking control of the situation, you are advocating that you get LESS in return and pay MORE for it... Costs are increasing but nobody tells you WHY costs are increasing and if you think it is more wasteful spending than last year, you bought into the "hype" they want you to believe... it costs more for a variety of reasons and waste is at the very bottom of the list... you want the Federal Reserve to give you inflation tax, you want the newest and more expensive medical treatments, you want the more expensive brand name drugs, you want to see more specialists, you want better hospital beds and rooms, you want more round the clock care, you want all this and expect the costs to go down? What world are you living in? Of course costs are going to go up... cause you are expecting MORE... you don't get more by paying less... that is where the increased costs are...

Do you really think waste/fraud increases every year by THAT much? In the old days, you get a cot and no nurse and almost no real care during your stay... and you still paid a lot then.. you asked for more and you got it... and you paid a bit more for it... are there fraudulent abuses in these programs... absolutely, but in comparison to the 2.2 Trillion budget, not so much... much less than 1% of the budget... Yes, it is socialized health care... even if you eliminated completely the fraud and abuse in the system, it will STILL be 2.2 Trillion dollars... The problem is what people expect from health care... do you want to pay less? Are you ready to receive less care and cheaper treatments? If you are, please tell the other 80 M Americans on the plan who feel so entitled to the best of everything and complain about the costs...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 11:32 AM
 
14,986 posts, read 23,761,138 times
Reputation: 26473
You response is a bit too wordy to digest. I think you agree with me (except for the percentage covered figure which, lacking data, I won't dispute)?

Anyways, my point stand - like I said, medicare and medicaid waste and fraud is a topic that is beyond dispute or debate I should think. The GOA itself estimated it costs "billion of dollars a year". The Washington Post estimated $60 billion a year. I would rather have the government out of health care. Not that I am saying our current health care system works either.

One additional note - even private insurers (via insurance through your employer) are paying the burden of our current form of socialized medicine. Why are your employee health insurance premiums so high? Well of course a hospital is required to provide emergency care by government mandate, weather a patient can pay or not (as they should of course). When the patient doesn't pay, it gets passed on to those that can via $10 asperin and $10,000 xrays.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 11:48 AM
 
Location: Oak Park, IL
5,523 posts, read 13,885,386 times
Reputation: 3906
The vast majority of health care dollars are spent giving care during the last 6 months of life. All we have to decide when people are going to die, and then cut off medical care six months prior to that point. We'll save tons of money. Who's willing to volunteer themselves, their parents, and their spouse for this cost saving program?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-06-2009, 11:50 AM
 
20,187 posts, read 23,745,052 times
Reputation: 9283
I agree, I would rather have the government stay out of health care for many, MANY reasons and they are a BIG problem... and yes, when a patient doesn't pay it increases the health care for everyone, not just those who can pay... so the problem compounds on itself... the problem will get worse yet as I doubt the government will leave "voluntarily" or that people and companies will allow the government to leave... I hope for the best and expect the worse.. it almost always seem to be the worse.... I place too much optimism in people to do the right thing...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top