The Amazing Maze of US Health Care

The single payer movement was not invited into the national health reform debate.

But they are not going away.

July 30, 2010 was the 45^th anniversary of Medicare.  Activists across the country took the opportunity to remind us that Medicare works for older Americans and it can work for the rest of us.

Medicare at 45

The Obama administration took the opportunity to tout improvements in Medicare as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA):

• More benefits, especially preventative benefits
• More tools to fight fraud and abuse
• Lower drug cots for seniors
• Improved quality of care through pilot programs that encourage more integrated and coordinated care delivery Read the rest of this entry »

The Senate Dems are talking about expanding Medicare.  Well, expanding Medicare to people over 55.  Um, expanding Medicare to some people over 55.  Er, expanding Medicare to some people over 55 who can afford to pay the price.

Is this a good idea, or part of a good idea? What and Why?

What is it?

The details are sketchy at this point.   The so-called expansion of Medicare is tied to discussions about killing the public option because that insurance company lackey, Senator Joe Lieberman (I, CN), could otherwise kill health care reform demanded by the majority of Americans.

And those right wing nut cases think we lefties are jamming health care reform down their throats?

Expanding Medicare has some appeal, but the Senate solution, like so many Congressional fixes, manages to muck it up. Read the rest of this entry »

Seven dollars and forty cents hardly seems like an amount that should erect a barrier to health care.

In fact, when Mr. Koch (all names are fictitious) called to complain about this bill for seven dollars and forty cents, my first reaction was, “You should appreciate how lucky you are that you have a health care plan that pays most of your bills. Why are you quibbling over $7.40?”
Of course, that is not an appropriate customer service response.

But listen to Mr. Koch. “This bill is for two pain pills that were given to me when I was admitted to the hospital for an emergency surgery.   Medicare won’t pay for the pills because they were “self-administered.” Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing seems a most appropriate word to describe the financing and delivery of health care services in the United States of America.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 9th Edition (OK, I have an old dictionary) amazing is derived from a French word meaning “to confuse”.  Obsolete meanings include consternation, bewilderment and perplexing.

Yes, health care in the US is truly amazing.  Rube Goldberg could not have invented a more illogical maze of non-systems.  Lewis Carroll’s might have added an additional chapter on Alice’s efforts to get those pills that made her big and small.  Kafka might imagine a special Penal Colony for those responsible for this maze.

I should be careful on this last point, since I am part of that system. Read the rest of this entry »