Sen. John E. Sununu, R-NH told a group of New Hampshire business leaders that there is nothing that can be done about health care costs, so they should stop talking about how it's making US businesses less competitive.
Apparently, Sununu has decided that health and insurance corporations are more important than other businesses in the US because there is a lot that can be done, he just doesn't want to do any of it.
In an unrelated story, the insurance industry contributed $322,500 to Sununu's campaign war chest and the health care industry another 76,240.
Physicians for a National Health Program disagree with Sununu:
A National Health Insurance Program would save at least $150 billion annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private, investor-owned insurance industry and reducing spending for marketing and other satellite services. Doctors and hospitals would be freed from the concomitant burdens and expenses of paperwork created by having to deal with multiple insurers with different rules - often rules designed to avoid payment. During the transition to an NHI, the savings on administration and profits would fully offset the costs of expanded and improved coverage. NHI would make it possible to set and enforce overall spending limits for the health care system, slowing cost growth over the long run.
A National Health Insurance Program is the only affordable option for universal, comprehensive coverage. Under the current system, expanding access to health care inevitably means increasing costs, and reducing costs inevitably means limiting access. But an NHI could both expand access and reduce costs. It would squeeze out bureaucratic waste and eliminate the perverse incentives that threaten the quality of care and the ethical foundations of medicine.
Read their proposal.
1 comments:
That's interesting. My daughter just received a letter from her doctor, asking for a $200 retainer fee, and also informing her that she can no longer honor HMO or PPO insurance plans, although she will still process them for patients, but they have to pay in full, upfront, and the amount they are reimbursed by the insurance plan will be lessened.
Here is what she says: the United States has been in the middle of a health care crisis for the last decade. Insurance companies are charging our patients higher premiums, all the while imposing greater restrictions and higher deductibles.
she goes on to say that she's watched many colleagues move out of state, leave medicine altogether, or transition to "boutique practices" with concierge fees ranging from $2500-$10,000 a year for unlimited access to physicians, obviating the need for insurance companies entirely.
Clearly a complex issue which just isn't being addressed.
You are a great source for information and issues. Thanks for being the real independent, thoughtful writer in the district.
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