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What's the cure?
Candidates look to fix failing healthcare system
Published Sunday, August 31, 2008
NATCHEZ — Healthcare is expensive. Everyone knows that.
But recently, concerns about how to pay for it have started creeping not only into the minds of the poor, but the working middle-class as well.
It is from that demographic that Mississippi Sen. Bob Dearing has been hearing more and more concerns.
“Basically, when you get outside the middle class, the more affluent can afford just about anything,” Dearing said. “The middle class is looking at every dollar, and they don’t have a lot of extra, spendable income.”
Mississippi Rep. Robert Johnson III said he often hears the same concerns.
Most of the people who have contacted Johnson are not those who have had a medical emergency, but those who can foresee one happening and are worried about how they would pay for it.
Those people tend to talk not about the costs associated with medical treatment, but instead in terms of the cost of health insurance, Johnson said.
“People who work are affected the most because they either have to buy health insurance or they can’t afford any,” he said.
Marbeth Schon is one of those people. A self-employed business owner, she and her husband have insurance, but at $700 a month, it’s not a passing thought.
To top that, they have a $10,000 deductible. That means they would have to pay $10,000 in medical bills before their $700 a month policy kicks in.
“We felt like we needed catastrophic insurance,” Schon said. “We figured we might be able to come up with $10,000, but not $100,000 or $1 million, which is not unheard of if you have open heart surgery or cancer.”
Natchez Regional Medical Center CEO Scott Phillips said the current healthcare system in the United States is great “if you have good insurance and can afford your medications, but if you don’t have that, the access is difficult and it’s going to be hard to jump in.”
Causes
The high cost of insurance is related to the high cost of healthcare — a national cost of more than $2 trillion a year, Phillips said.
One of the reasons costs are that high is because hospitals have had to respond to inflation, said Tim Trottier, CEO of Natchez Community Hospital.
“Like any business, our cost of doing business is a function of what we charge,” he said.
However, if you look at the cost of healthcare and compare it to the rate of inflation for other goods, its associated costs are rising at a higher rate, he said.
Faced with rising fuel and food costs, hospitals have increased bills across the spectrum, but they also have to face an “unfavorable tort climate in many states,” Trottier said. “Basically, frivolous lawsuits against healthcare providers artificially inflate the cost of healthcare.”
Another reason health care in the United States is so expensive is because drug companies are spending an incredible amount of money researching and creating drugs, and they pass those costs along to the patient, Phillips said.
But large portions of dollars spent on healthcare — between 20 and 30 percent — are spent on billing and processing claims.
“An awful lot of what we spend on healthcare doesn’t buy any healthcare,” Phillips said.
And a significant amount of healthcare — Phillips said approximately 40 percent — is unnecessary.
That, however, is not due to profiteering by doctors, but rather because of the constant evolution of medicine and new medical discoveries that render old practices unnecessary, and when they remain in practice, they drain resources, Phillips said.
All of those factors lead to one big problem.
“There are people who let themselves get into really bad condition before they seek help because it is going to cost them money they don’t have,” Schon said.
Proposed solutions
If there is healthcare reform that allows more people coverage, it is going to have to come from the federal level, Dearing said.
“The state can only do so much,” he said.
Phillips agreed.
“The question between the political parties is how are we going to structure the system so everyone can have access that’s affordable.”
That question has vaulted the issue of healthcare into the presidential debate.
The healthcare plan presented by the presumed nominee for the Republican Party, U.S. Sen. John McCain, proposes forming a non-profit corporation that would contract with insurance providers to provide coverage to patients who are traditionally uninsurable — those who don’t have prior coverage or those with pre-existing conditions.
His plan also includes allowing more insurance portability — allowing people to take a single insurance policy from job to job. The McCain plan also includes allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines.
That plan also includes finding ways to lower drug prices by re-importation of drugs and allowing generic forms of drugs to be placed on the market more quickly.
On the other hand, Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s proposed plan includes providing a national health plan with guaranteed eligibility for everyone and sliding-scale subsidies for families who do not qualify for the Medicaid or SCHIP programs but still cannot afford health insurance. The proposal also calls for the required coverage of children.
His plan also calls for regulation of the private insurance market for those who want to continue with their own private coverage. It also includes an employer contribution to either their employees’ health benefits or to the national health care plan. Smaller businesses will be eligible for a tax credit for their contributions.
The Obama plan also proposes to reduce the cost of medical treatment by modernizing American medical practices and allowing the re-importation of drugs and quicker generic drug releases.
Johnson said he likes the Obama plan, but whoever is elected one thing is true.
“We need to focus our attention on people who are not covered by Medicaid and can’t afford health insurance,” he said.
Comments
Posted by thetinman (Keith Reynolds) on August 31, 2008 at 1:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I now Have a Great Job and Bosses that many workers would kill to have!!!. I may have to take another job because, I have NO Medical insurance. I don't look to be able to afford medical insurance on my own. Nor do I feel my employer will be at a point to be able to afford medical coverage for all of there employees. Out of 8 employees total including three of them being owners, Three of all of us has pre existing conditions that may drive affordable coverage, to be a thing to keep on talking about.
Posted by loneconservative (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 6:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be nice if the ND would show how local healthcare costs compared to the national average
Posted by priya (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I like your thinking Loneconservative. In reality If we knew how much health care costs. A lot of people working wouldnt be working. I noticed most people that have medicaid go to the doctors for something every week. and the people that cant afford health insurance go once a year. wow december is coming for my yearly check-up.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Free enterprise is the lifeblood of our culture. If insurance companies do something that is expensive they have a reason.
Tort reform is necessary. Those tiny few people with a real case should shut up and let the congress protect medical professionals from lawsuits, because almost everyone who has a complaint is just a frivolous lawsuiter. After 30 or 40 years without lawsuits, medical costs will go down, and then and only then should we expect medical costs to drop.
If drug companies charge us twice as much here at home as they do in the rest of the world it is because it is expensive to develop drugs, and the companies hardly make a profit anyway. We should give them that money.
We can't legally get the drugs from other countries because the president says we can't, and that's that. They aren't safe, and President Bush does not lie.
I think John McCain's idea is good. We can hire Democrats to run a non-profit corporation, because they are socialists anyway and do not like profits and don't deserve them. Corporations can fix everything but government can't fix anything.
Drug companies should be able to offer any product they want with less testing and charge what they want to for it. If the drug kills people then we will deal with that later, and the profits they make off the drug can pay the lawsuits of those who died from the drugs. That is the wisdom of the marketplace. They should not let people file medical lawsuits, unless you are already dead. That would help make medicine better.
(To anyone who hasn't noticed, this is sarcasm, yet it is not much different from what you hear on the street. I'm trying to sound like a white guy from Mississippi, who is far too crafty to ever vote for anybody named Obama, He,he!.)
Posted by straightshooter1 (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, you just sounded like a smartass black guy who is just stupid enough to vote for Obama....what's your point? He has no solutions either. Just blowing a lot of hot air that a lot of people like yourself use to make you feel better. Jeesz...get a brain and a life....oh...He, He...that makes it all better I am sure.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Try painting me as a white guy who is too smart to give the crooks another 4 years. We can survive the unknown Obama far better than 4 more years of fleecing.
The old man is not smart enough to control his party -- and his party is a bunch of crooks who have dug their heels in already and are mining your pocketbook for a percentage. They will not stop till you make them stop.
Posted by humorme (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I know how to fix it. Quit paying Doctors so much. I know it takes alot of school and intelligence to become a doctor but do they deserve to earn 10 to 20 times what a hard working patient earns? I don't think so. We have created a society where Doctors are looked at as gods and they start to play the part. It is a job thats all.
Posted by broonzy (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Priya : didn't you notice, people that have medicaid that go to the doctor every week for nothing, stink too ! do you have statistics about those people who go to the doctor every week ? Please, stop general stereotyping of people...
Posted by harjedalen (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 4:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh, you are dead on about the big Pharma companies charging twice as much in the USA for the same drugs as in the rest of the world. Why is the American consumer expected to bear the cost of R&D when the whole world benefits?
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 5:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You are right harjedalen. I cannot understand how anyone would vote for any Republican once they see how they really handle the "free market" in drugs.
This is the point I am trying to make about the incredible lying instinct the Republicans have grown into.
Bush says he is a free enterprise president to simple folks that are trusting, and yet he supports laws that rig the game against consumers and for industry. And it's not just drugs, and it's not just re-importation where he has supported regulation that hurts us all to the tune of billions.
Everybody in congress knows this and the Republicans are in lockstep still selling free enterprise to anyone who will believe them but making regulatory laws that keep US consumers paying the highest prices. It's lip service and these guys need to be retired.
The problem is that people just cannot admit to themselves that they have been betrayed by the entire Republican dream. It's not that their values are bad -- it's just that the Republican Party has become almost totally corrupt and is now worse than the alternative.
Posted by getalifenatchez (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 7:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh---isn't it wonderful that we live in a country that you have the freedom to voice your opinion? I don't totally disagree with everything you say, maybe 75%. Our country is so divided because of partisan politics. We are a very diverse society--unlike what you see around the Miss-Lou area. It's unimaginable to think of everyone coming together and wanting whats best for our country, but it never hurts to dream. If you share similar values as the candidate you are supporting, then by all means you have the right to vote him/her into office. I personally don't care if the person running for election is purple, green, man, or woman--- I'm voting for LESS government, not more---- we are taxed to death as is, and everything the government has their hands in is operated poorly---look at our public schools for example, medicare/medicaid, social security, etc... Do you think they can revamp our medical system to make it any better???? Wait for the government to get involved, more so than it already is---and then you are really going to see a mess. The US government does not have a very good track record on managing anything... Regardless, I want to think positive thoughts, but it's kind of hard this day and time when everyone appears to be out for themselves and could care less about the other guy... Morals and ethics are at an all time low.... Our liberal thinking has taken us down the toilet... Our pro homosexual marriage, pro-choice, anti-religion way of thinking is taking us straight through the gates of hell... The Roman Empire had nothing on us! No political figure is powerful enough to heal this nation and get it back on track, only the man upstairs can do so if we all could just trust in him and do as his words state in the Bible. If we could all live our lives as he would intend us to-- Love one another, respect one another, help one another--- We would not be depending on a political figure to bring "CHANGE".... God Bless America!!!!
Posted by presby (anonymous) on August 31, 2008 at 11:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hangum all at dawn
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on September 1, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If he grew another brain, it would die of LONELINESS.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on September 1, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, getalifenatchez, you do the math.
20 of the last 28 years have seen Republican adminstrations.
14 of the last 18 years have seen Republican domination of congress.
The more power they held (in the last 8 years) the faster government grew and the more money they spent, no matter what they told you.
Either someone is lying to you, and/or your idea of that Republican government equals less government IS TOTALLY WRONG.
I can't put it any simpler than that.
Your next step is to determine if you want that to continue or you want to try something else.
The hardest thing you face is to admit that you can be so easily fooled by the same old campaign slogans every time. But the numbers don't lie about what Republicans in charge has meant.
Republican Buchanan and others have written about how he and Nixon schemed to include BS about standing for anti-abortion and claiming to be God's representative speficially to fool the southern white Democratic voter into becoming Republican. With that voting block and the anti-tax crowd they would attain power, and the southern voter, prone to lazy thinking would get as stuck on hating Democrats as they did on hating Republicans 100 years earlier. It worked.
If they really were serious about ending welfare, spending less, or banning abortion, they would have done it when they controlled both congress and the White House. I think Buchanan is totally on the mark. But if you want to blame anyone in government for your complaints you see who has been in charge.
Posted by broonzy (anonymous) on September 1, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh... 100% right !
Posted by priya (anonymous) on September 1, 2008 at 9:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sorry Broonzy i thought medicaid people didnt stink. Glad you told me so now i wont stand so close to them.
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