Does anyone remember mandatory second opinions for surgery? The programs were launched by the major health insurers with great support from Washington. The idea was that we would eliminate all of those ‘unnecessary’ surgical procedures that doctors were doing just for money Anyone remember what happened to those programs? They were all abandoned. Why? Because they cost more than they saved and had little impact on the overwhelming majority of surgeries that were recommended. Did it ever occur to the paper pushing bureaucrats that real human beings would not agree to surgery the did felt they did not need? Did anyone in officialdom think that a real Citizen of the American Republic would allow themselves to be cut on just for the fun of it? Common sense and personal responsibility are the keys to any real health care system. It has been the hallmark of American medicine, the envy of the world for well over a century. So let’s get real, any government attempt to control costs by controlling technology, procedures or medical innovation is doomed to failure, unless they are willing to extend the long arm of the law and make illegal real medical advances for the sake of budgetary expediency . . . obi jo
The Congressional Budget Office said Saturday that a new agency proposed by President Obama as a way to cut health costs might save only $2 billion in its first four years, and that there was a high probability that “no savings would be realized.”
Republicans and some Democrats say Mr. Obama’s proposals to cover the uninsured would fuel the growth of health spending. In draft legislation sent to Congress on July 17, the president proposed creation of an “independent Medicare advisory council,” which could set payment policies for Medicare, subject to approval by the president. The administration could put the policies into effect unless they were blocked within 30 days by Congress.
The budget office said the proposal did not have enough teeth to guarantee substantial savings. The draft legislation “does not explicitly direct the council to reduce” Medicare spending, “nor does it establish any target for such reductions,” said Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the budget office.
However, health care providers, which are already lobbying against Mr. Obama’s plan, would object even more strenuously to such proposals.
Obama Defends Proposed Health Office- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/us/26radio.html?_r=1&ref=health
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I want to say i want the Senate and Congress to move slowly and effectively on this change in our benefits and health care options. its too complex to rush thru for a passing of something that is not properly understood. It took 50 years to get it to this situation, certainly it can take a few months of research and proper investigation to get it back to its new course. I encourage Pres Obama to call on the insurance industry to remove those discriminatory factors in health insurance policies that deny people in need care, and to call on medical suppliers, prescription drug companies, surgical suppliers to lower their costs and profit so that hospitals and drs dont have to keep pricing high. For one example as well.. There is no DENTAL considered in this reform. HOW CAN THERE NOT BE? Dental health is the source of which whole body wellness is based. Why should dentists be price fixing root canals at $1,000 for each tooth and another $800 to $1,000 for a crown ? In exchange for tooth pulling of teeth that CAN BE SAVED for $50.00? I want my teeth but i am poor and cannot find dentists and oral surgeons in IL with any charity base to PAY FOR THESE OPTIONS. IL MEDICAID does not cover the molars! These discriminatory factors need to be immediately elimnated. and the US senate n congresss needs to regulate how and where the STATES spend their MEDICAID dollars. My spend down is $288 a month or almost $3000 a year!! I AM INDIGENT ON MEDICAID AND MEDICARE!
This is unseemly when a blue cross policy costs only around $1200 a year! WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PIC? I believe flat rating drs fees, eliminating adjudication processing and RN long review of medical bills. Drs know what they need to request for patients and it will be different Dr to dr so setup a guideline. But in essence it will be a discriminator factor by the govt. What ever happend to the public coming in to testify before the senate committes to tell what is lacking?when are those hearings to be held? WHy have our congressional people become Despots to representing the peoples needs? HAVE THE HEARINGS FIRST THEN WRITE YOUR BILLS .. its too important you need to hear what is missing for the public NOW!
pamela toll park forest il usa
Thank you for your comment. Agree that a slow, deliberate process is best in dealing with an issue as complex as health reform. Keep reading!