Posted on 07/11/2013 10:45:15 AM PDT by Kaslin
The alleged motivation behind the deceitfully named “Affordable Care Act” is that there are millions of medically uninsured in the US. Of course the appropriate solution would be to address that need without crashing healthcare for the rest of the population. But somehow that approach was overlooked.
What if there was a concept by which we could treat those millions, providing them with better care, shorter wait times, less bureaucracy and an improved doctor/patient relationship, all while reducing Medicaid spending by $1 billion or more per state per year?
Not only is this possible, but the type of facility which would accomplish this miracle has been operating in New Jersey for a decade.
This innovative, doctor-driven approach would place all Medicaid outpatient services in the hands of the physicians of any given state. Each doctor would donate time to the program’s implementation and ongoing operation. Analysis by the creators of this proposal, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (a conservative counterpart to the AMA), indicates four hours a week per doctor to be sufficient.
Compensation from the states for these physician services is an elegant quid pro quo: each state would indemnify the entire medical practices of these volunteer doctors against malpractice lawsuits.
Doctors would save hundreds of millions in premiums and states would save billions in Medicaid costs.
Using varying methods, states currently ensure protection of state-employed doctors working in university hospitals, government-run clinics and other such facilities. It would be relatively simple to expand these systems to cover all doctors in each state.
According to figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation, malpractice awards in 2010 for my entire home state of Arizona were under $50 million, a tiny fraction of Medicaid outpatient expenses.
Tort reform would further reduce costs and the state’s role in physician licensing is another potential area for saving, as most malpractice awards originate from a small percentage of physicians.
A prototype clinic using this approach is operating in Somerset, NJ, under the administration of Drs. John and Alieta Eck. Medicaid encounter costs average just $13 per visit under their management, down from a previous federal cost of $160. And charitable contributions from individuals and organizations have reduced the taxpayer-funded portion of clinic operation to zero.
The contrast with the exorbitant cost of Medicaid, or worse, using a hospital emergency room for primary care, as is commonly done by the uninsured, is staggering.
The incentive for physicians to enroll in and execute this program is significant, not only for the monetary savings, but because of the dramatic reduction in bureaucratic interference and paperwork.
The plan has more than its share of adversaries. Meddling politicians, managed care administrators, medical malpractice and healthcare insurance companies, hospital lobbyists and plaintiffs’ attorneys are major beneficiaries of the current system and are likely to strongly resist any proposed changes.
But they are currently profiting at enormous expense to taxpayers. With Obamacare crashing on multiple fronts, it’s long past time for a viable and inventive alternative.
The well-being of our citizens, both fiscal and physical, should be paramount.
There is also Medishare and another Christian based “health sharing” I can’t remember the name, something like Samaritan ministries.
The ironic stupidity behind Patient Protection and Citizens’ Affordable Care Act (PP CACA), is that the health care system was imperfect and therefore had to be scrapped entirely and replaced by a universal, one-size-fits-all government scam, based on a severely limited budget.
The irony is that, although Medicare, Medicaid, SSA, the War on Poverty, War on Drugs, and most other government scams, are also imperfect, but we dare not scrap them in favor of something that might work.
I market a telemedicine service by US doctors with an annual retainer lower than most doctors charge for one visit. I’m just not going to market it here! Anyone can enroll, even medicaid recipients no matter the state of one’s health.
Why anyone believes Federal Government needs to organize health-care insurance, or has the best chance of success in doing so - is beyond me. In fact, they are the WORST at doing so.
I am certain my town Government could do a better job, IF the citizens wanted them to. We have 20,000 residents, so we have some size and scale, but we also know our local conditions, and are small enough where people can have real input with their representatives in the proces, and also small enough to deal with particular cases as individuals.
I’m not proposing it - I’m only saying there are 1000 better alternatives to Federal Gov’t controlled health-care.
In slightly more than two years, the premium for my small group, high deductible PPO policy has increased 36.74% without significant claims and with no changes in the employees and dependents covered. Thank you, President Obama. Thank you, Democrats in Congress for passing the inaptly named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
In Obamazarro World everything is broken and only the democrats can fix it.
The medical system is broken.
The immigration system is broken.
The marriage system is broken.
The birth of live babies is broken.
The 2nd Amendment is broken.
Forgot one:
The access to contraceptives is broken.
But now that some folks have read the bill, like Pelosi suggested, we found that due to limitations, 30-35 million people will STILL lack health insurance, even after the law is implemented! So for all the cries about how necessary Obamacare is, and how it must be implemented ASAP, only 15-20 million additional people will supposedly be served by this law.
This law was never about access to healthcare, or "improving" healthcare, or reducing the costs of healthcare. This law was about getting all of us, and our would-class healthcare system, under the control of the government. There are outcomes to this law that we have yet to see, that will have a profound impact on our society.
Just wait until everything's in place. Michelle Obama's wishful little "suggestions" for diets will become national edicts. If you're anywhere near overweight, you might just have to report somewhere for mandatory training. Smokers will have their own cessation programs; drug addicts might be overlooked. Waivers might be granted for those wishing to pay additional premiums.
It will change politics as well. The GOP will HAVE to get onboard with the healthcare plan too. The Democrats will forever hold the threat of the GOP making the ACA less efficient, paying for less doctors and medical resources, providing less funding for pharmaceuticals, nurses, specialists, you name it. Of course, the GOP will scramble back and say, "no, no, no! We like the ACA too, and just want to improve it!" Face it, if getting BAD healthcare or getting NO healthcare are the only options, who do you think people will vote for? It's been established that people like getting stuff, and the GOP will have to change their platform from a "freedom and liberty platform," to a "sometimes you gotta give up a little freedom" platform.
So don't make the mistake of thinking this was ever about healthcare; it was about control. For each year the law is in effect, it'll take 25 years to remove it.
As an ardent supporter of FREE health care and I were speaking once, actually I was trying to speak and she was flailing her arms and shouting, I did manage to ask her if she thought 10,000 IRS agents in the same kitchen could make her as good a dinner as just one good chef or short order cook. If you won't trust your stomach to them then why trust them with your life? Even if it is FREE?
Might work? I care not IF it did in the first place, they have NO right/authority to nosing into these areas to begin.
What part of Unconstitutional doesn’t the gov’t (and some people) understand?? I’d even be happy to debate, stupid/little ‘ol me, any of ‘em if they could just point out the clause...
Yep, no Obamacare is the alternative.
while on the subject i’d like an acceptable alternative to Obama....
You are not alone
That the rats shoved it down our throat, is by itself a factual sign it was nothing but a power grab
I made the mistake of reading some slop by a political writer named Froma Harrop (no, I am not making that up). She said that Obamacare would be fully implemented despite evil conservatives trying to thwart it, and it will be wonderful. I wanted to toss my computer out the window.
If these socialist thugs think their way is so great, whty don’t they move to Europe? They think nothing of forcing everyone to submit to their dictates. It makes me furious. I just want to be left alone.
Probably the best alternative would be a “Freedom From Federal Government Act”, which says that US citizens have the right to *not* belong to any health care or retirement system, or any other mandatory system allegedly “for their benefit”.
This means they could refuse enrollment in or payment to Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare or any other system that required taxation or membership for purposes other than to raise government revenue.
Likewise, if you don’t want to pay for such systems, then your employer cannot be compelled to pay on your behalf.
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