Content tagged with "health-care"
The case against Blue Cross highlights the challenges of reducing health care costs, as any cost reduction is a threat to someone’s revenue stream. The case involves Theramatrix, a company that offered a 50% reduction in physical therapy costs for Ford, but Blue Cross allegedly used its position as the state’s dominant insurer to stop the expansion of Theramatrix’s program and bar it from the insurer’s medical provider network. The author criticizes politicians’ simplistic claims about reducing health care costs through efficiency, arguing that these claims are naive and that cost reductions will likely be slow and easily eaten up by inflation and other costs.
The author discusses the concept of drug price controls, referencing the book “Rise of the Robots” by the author. The author suggests that the U.S. is effectively subsidizing lower prices in other countries due to drug companies negotiating prices with national governments. The author questions why this is not more disturbing to Americans, particularly conservatives, and questions whether price controls could be a viable solution.
The article discusses the potential of healthcare efficiency, highlighting two examples of healthcare systems that have implemented this approach. In Camden, New Jersey, a doctor identified the patients using the most healthcare resources and worked with them to improve their health, reducing their reliance on the system and overall costs. In Atlantic City, a union of casino employees also implemented this approach, resulting in a significant reduction in emergency-room visits and hospital admissions, and a significant increase in healthier patients.
Safeway has implemented an incentive program to encourage its employees to improve their health, offering them reduced annual premiums if they pass four tests. The article highlights that 70% of all health-care costs are directly due to behavior, with 74% of all costs confined to four chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity) that are preventable.
The author recounts his experience of undergoing an appendix removal due to intense abdominal pain. Despite initial confusion about the cause of the pain, the pain eventually moved to the correct location, leading to the operation. After recovery, the author was discharged and was informed he would need a checkup in two weeks.
The article “The Cost Conundrum” suggests that the high cost of medical care in McAllen, Texas, is due to doctors turning medicine into a business, ordering extra tests, services, and procedures to increase their fees and profit. The author, a physician, shares his personal experience of a child who was misdiagnosed and not treated properly, leading to unnecessary medical care. The author suggests that the issue will self-regulate when people and insurance companies can no longer afford the current rates.