Ken,
The problem, as I see it anyway, is that medical science continues to
advance faster than
our ability to pay for it. Advances in medical technology are measured in
lives saved
and not dollars saved* and thus are of little help in cutting costs, unlike
in
most other areas in which technology is utilized. Until the HMOs showed up
there were few constraints on medical costs. As technology expanded the
scope of treatments available. cost started getting out of control.
If it weren't for the bean counters counting the beans who would count
them, the
doctors? Ha! As a group they are notoriously unsavy about anything
financial. One example, in commercial real estate finance, one of the
safest investments
is a medical office building on the grounds of, or within walking distance
of, a hospital - if it's professionally owned and managed, here professional
referring not by medical professionals. If the doctor/owners manage it - we
stay away. People would surely die from doctor-bankrupted HMOs leaving
people without medical care, more frequently than by the occasional denied
test which kills someone. I think the fact is that medicine has become
so expensive that it has to be rationed for the benefit of all. Just like
water in a lifeboat.
I know, Ken, you STILL don't like the idea of clerks practicing medicine.
Personally, I have never been so unimpressed as I have been by doctors since
joining this List and finding out how much many of them DON'T know. I think
the clerks deserve a shot at it -PROVIDED there is an effective appeal
process, which there now is as of 2 months ago which promises to end all the
HMO abuses. We'll see, though. You may still be right.
* One very small example. I was in the hospital for the same thing in 1983
& 1995. I n'83 an IV went from the bottle to your arm through a tube. In;
'95 it went first through an electronic box that took its temperature,
measured it, sniffed, sliced it & diced it and God only know what else.
About 8" square, it looked like it cost about $3,000 - meaning they are
probably about $10,000 each.
Bruce
P.S. Not to pick on doctors (They afterall, are in general the best at
savings lives & ending suffering) but did you know that as a occupational
group doctors have the worst accident rates in private aviation? (this is
something I read at least 5-7 years ago) No one knows why, although I have
a theory.
d only jbiw wgat else.
