Any thoughts or ideas on how to fix Obamacare??? (drugs, lawyers, health care)
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My thoughts for today... what Americans really needs is catastrophic coverage, not necessarily free maintenance and such.
It would be interesting to crunch the numbers to figure out the cost for a universal catastrophic coverage, like FEMA but for people. And everyone kicks into this fund unless they already have a good insurance plan that from their employer that includes this. So even the young and healthy adults have to be part of this catastrophic coverage plan, and it can be deducted from their paychecks. Young healthy people don't care as much about free yearly checkups and they feel invincible, but at the very least, they should pay into a catastrophic health plan. And that goes for the poor too.
Then, there should be health clinics all over the US that are open 24/7 and with sliding scale fees. People can go there for their annual physicals at a reasonable cost and be able to walk-in for minor sudden health issues like the flu, sprained knees... just not trauma stuff. Let's save the expensive ERs for the trauma patients. And to make sure that everyone goes to the best medical outlet possible for their situation, these walk-in health clinics should be situated close to any ER. And doctors who work at these health clinics could have most of their student loans paid for by the clinic as an incentive to work there and not go into specialty medicine.
Then lower the costs of being a doctor or running a hospital by setting limits on malpractice claims. In a previous post, I suggested removing the lawyers and their 30% cut by having an arbitration boards composed of doctors, patients and experts that could set a value on what a penalty should be. It seems to me that we are wasting a lot of money on malpractice insurance and outrageous settlements. Get rid of ambulance chasing lawyers.
We need to also figure out howto lower the costs of meds. Why are so many meds much cheaper to buy in Mexico and Canada?
Another thought I had, is that in rural areas, instead of insurance premiums, people could pay a monthly membership fee to a hospital in their area. Cut out the insurance companies and their need for profits, just pay directly to the hospital and have access to their doctors, nurses and get a discount on meds.
Chronic conditions are what cost the most. Heart disease, cancer and degenerative diseases, etc. They are long-term. I don't know if that's considered "catastrophic" care--just what happens to everyone at some point. Acute care isn't as costly, it's a one or two time "fix" unless it's s big surgery due to an accident (for example), which would cost a lot. I think tweaking Obama Care would have been the best solution--put things in and take things out and make it bi-partisan.
How about "guns for care"? Kill 2 birds with one stone. Get guns off the street and said former gun owner gets some health care. Maybe a Glock is good for a cancer screen and an assault rifle is good for a knee replacement.
Another thought I had, is that in rural areas, instead of insurance premiums, people could pay a monthly membership fee to a hospital in their area. Cut out the insurance companies and their need for profits, just pay directly to the hospital and have access to their doctors, nurses and get a discount on meds.
That won't work if they travel or even if they work 1 hour away near another hospital. They could get in an accident near work and go to the hospital closer to work. Or if they are visiting family in a different state or different city, or if they travel for work. Emergencies can occur during travel when they aren't ner their 'home' hospital.
single payer. Let Govt bargain for price of drugs. Beef up anti-fraud and quality controls. Reward doctors and hospitals for keeping patients healthy after procedures/visits and punish those that have quantifiable lapses in things like infection rates, malpractice etc....
Why does government HAVE to be involved in healthcare?
why do ins companies?
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