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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Cut Medical Costs by Reducing Frivolous Expenses

In advocating a government health care system, some people fail to realize that such a system would never function in the utopian manner they envision.

The Rapid City Journal opinion page today provides a good example of why it would be so grossly inefficient and costly, and from an unlikely source.

The Opinion Page reprints an op/ed from the Mitchell Daily Republic on a suggestion by a Brown County jail nurse to start charging inmates a small fee for the medical services they receive while in custody, in order to cut back on frivolous medical requests.

They're already doing this in Davison County where medical and other services come out of the prisoner's account. The result?

Jail officials in Davison County say frivolous demands usually drop when they understand they are helping to pay all or some of the costs from their own account.

Good ole human nature. Provide access to something that's "free" and some people--too many people--are going to use it frivolously.

I saw it in the military health care system; some people would waste an hour or two of their (and the medical staff's) time going to the base hospital to see a doctor and get free (taxpayer-funded) cold medicine, when they could have walked over to the BX and got it themselves for $10 in 15 minutes.

I also saw the National Health Service overused and abused when I lived in England for three years--on an even more massive scale than the military abuse. It's part of why, along with bureaucratic inefficiency and budgets, Canada and England see such outrageous waiting lists in their medical system.

Our current system is far from perfect, but going to a single-payer socialized health care system is a huge step in the wrong direction. We would do far better to remove much of the government regulation of the health care industry, make it easier to get health insurance across state lines and insurance portability.

And a big key in bringing sanity back to our system is getting the consumer more involved in their health care decisions--including controlling costs. Socialized medicine removes that part of the equation completely.


1 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is axiomatic that when something is perceived to be "free" supply can never keep up with demand. If Mercedes-Benz began giving their fine automobiles away even after we all had one we'd want another model, a newer model, a different color, etc.

So it is with medicine. And since medical care is a service with practical limits, something has to put a check on demand. That something is called rationing. If everyone with a headache demands a CT scan (about $2000 each) then we can control over-use and costs by limiting the number of machines and procedures thus creating long waiting periods. Patients won't mind waiting in line for three to six months with a headache, possibly caused by a brain tumor, because they will be consoled by the fact that it is "free."

If you think I am exaggerating the situation, consider the fact that there are more CT scanners in metro Philadelphia than in all of Canada!

What? You need an MRI and not a CT scan? Now, that's really funny! Make sure your life insurance is paid up. But, rest assured, if it were available it would be "free" to everyone.

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