A part of the solution.
I have opined previously about the current state of health care and why universal health care is NOT the answer. Regular commenter Skipper has chastised me once or twice about not offering a solution. He is right to a point. It is one thing to complain about solutions being offered while not offering solutions on their own. Where the point has come in is that I have offered a vague solution or two before.
This however, will be a more concrete solution. The high cost of health care can be trimmed radically by simply holding hospitals and medical clinics accountable for questionable billings. Case in point:
"About 10 years ago, I broke my leg playing basketball. After I came out of surgery, with a cast stretching from my ankle to the top of my leg, an orderly asked me whether I had ever used crutches before. I hadn't, so he showed me what to do, swinging through them from one end of the room to the other. The whole lesson lasted about 90 seconds. "
$150 for 90 seconds of showing someone how to use crutches! Sadly this is not an unusual circumstance. Early in my work history, I did a stint as a data entry clerk for a company that audited hospital bills for insurance companies. The nurse auditors that we worked for found, on average, savings of 30%-40% that came from "questionable" charges. Things like sanitary napkins for male patients and Viagra supposedly prescribed to women patients! My mother is a retired RN and she recalls the days when (as a student) she was told to put charges for her nylons on a patients chart because "the insurance company was paying for it." If we can make hospitals accountable for fraudulent charges and gross overcharges (like $150 for a 90 second demonstration on how to use crutches) we can reduce the cost of health care dramatically.
The other thing that could help would be correcting this attitude:
"When I got my hospital bill, I saw that I had been charged $150 for "gait training on crutches." I did what all insured Americans do: I forwarded the bill to my insurance company. Why should I care? I wasn't paying for it."
We need to get out of the mindset that the insurance company is paying for it because they are not! We are all paying for these charges in the form of higher premiums and higher deductables!
Yes, we do need to find some way of getting the uninsured and the under-insured better coverage. However, finding another 3rd party to pay for it will not correct the root cause of the high premiums. It will just give the hospitals that are defrauding the system more opportunity to do so.
This however, will be a more concrete solution. The high cost of health care can be trimmed radically by simply holding hospitals and medical clinics accountable for questionable billings. Case in point:
"About 10 years ago, I broke my leg playing basketball. After I came out of surgery, with a cast stretching from my ankle to the top of my leg, an orderly asked me whether I had ever used crutches before. I hadn't, so he showed me what to do, swinging through them from one end of the room to the other. The whole lesson lasted about 90 seconds. "
$150 for 90 seconds of showing someone how to use crutches! Sadly this is not an unusual circumstance. Early in my work history, I did a stint as a data entry clerk for a company that audited hospital bills for insurance companies. The nurse auditors that we worked for found, on average, savings of 30%-40% that came from "questionable" charges. Things like sanitary napkins for male patients and Viagra supposedly prescribed to women patients! My mother is a retired RN and she recalls the days when (as a student) she was told to put charges for her nylons on a patients chart because "the insurance company was paying for it." If we can make hospitals accountable for fraudulent charges and gross overcharges (like $150 for a 90 second demonstration on how to use crutches) we can reduce the cost of health care dramatically.
The other thing that could help would be correcting this attitude:
"When I got my hospital bill, I saw that I had been charged $150 for "gait training on crutches." I did what all insured Americans do: I forwarded the bill to my insurance company. Why should I care? I wasn't paying for it."
We need to get out of the mindset that the insurance company is paying for it because they are not! We are all paying for these charges in the form of higher premiums and higher deductables!
Yes, we do need to find some way of getting the uninsured and the under-insured better coverage. However, finding another 3rd party to pay for it will not correct the root cause of the high premiums. It will just give the hospitals that are defrauding the system more opportunity to do so.
posted by The Lady Logician at
3:51 PM
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