Success For the Future

Setting up systems for future success is an important strategy to come out on top in the long run.  Most people tend to want what’s most important now and not later.  Not looking at the big picture and realizing how this is going to affect us in the long run.  As it stands now, we as a country see that giving everyone health care is the right thing to do.  It may work for a couple of years but when the shit hits the fan than what.  How do we climb out of the hole we dug for ourselves.   Looking at this new socialized medicine it seems to me that we will soon be in a really big financial crisis.  Here’s my point, imagine that you have a class room full of students  and you told them that the class as a whole was going to have one grade how will that turn out in the end.  Most likely the system is going to fail because most people are not going to hold their end of the bargain and going to let others do all there work.    That is how this health care reform bill is going to be like.   You’re going to tax the rich more and more until they have no money, than what?  The only two things left to do is either barrow more money from other countries or have to see society at its finest fall to a system that is so corrupt.  How will we as a country even be able to fund the workers of these hospitals when there is so much in consumption that we use on the daily to provide for the sick and the hurt?  There are so many other things that we have to take care of in this country already.  In a business you don’t go to other companies and ask them to pay your employees for you.  You have to do it yourself, which means that you have make money and support your own weight so that you can live to see another day.  That is where we as a country don’t understand, hospitals are like a business too they need to make money and barrowing more money from other countries isn’t going to cut it for us.  Eventually it all fails.

ObamaCare Versus The States

Now that Obama has won a second term, the future of Obamacare seems hopeful... or does it? There are certainly still many hurdles ahead of Obama’s new health care legislation, which even the President and his administration acknowledge. Under the new law, Medcaid will be expanded to anyone who is below the current poverty level. The biggest challenge to Obamacare however is getting the states on board with this idea. Although the Supreme Court ruled that requiring individuals to purchase medical insurance is constitutional, it did not rule that states must agree to expanding their medicare budget. Huffington Post writer, Jeffrey Young reports that the Congressional Budget Office calculated that allowing states to opt out of the planned Medicaid expansion could leave some 3 million people uninsured. This of course counters what the Obama administration is seeking to achieve via its heath care reform bill. Therefore, this may prove to be quite an obstacle to the success of the bill. Another point to consider is that under the Obamacare plan, states must concede to forming health insurance exchanges. However, this is something many states are not necessarily on board with. State exchanges could mean higher taxes and fewer jobs, which is why many states are wary of agreeing to the formation of the exchanges. Michael Cannon of The Health Care Blog, believed that states are better off defaulting to a federal exchange. Cannon states that state exchanges coupled with Medicare expansion are too costly and risky to undertake. This is certainly a valid point, especially as many states, such as California are already facing major budget woes.

Finding Solutions... Not Problems

Health care reform. It is a heated issue which many find themselves at odds with. On the one side, there are the people that applaud Obamacare and welcome the new legislation in the name of reform. Yet, there are also many on the other side of the fence who believe that Obamacare will make the current health care system even worse. Regardless of which side you fall on however it seems that many are losing sight of the bigger issue here. That issue is finding solutions. Many are quick to dismiss Obamacare citing its many faults and problems, yet they are not really providing any solutions to counter the issue. The fact is, that we are all in agreement that the current health care system is in need of a major overhaul. The unbelievably high cost of health care coupled with the high rate of uninsured Americans is cause for concern for everyone at the moment. By what are we doing about it? It seems that many of us are sitting by criticizing proposed reform plans while we are offering no real solution to the issue at hand. The health care system is wasting away money each day while we sit idly by and do nothing about it. CBS News reports that currently 750 billion dollars a year is squandered away. That equates to 30 cents of very medical dollar the average American spends on health care. The Institute of Medicine released a report detailing the areas of waste within the health care system. Those areas include unnecessary services ($210 billion annually); inefficient delivery of care ($130 billion); excess administrative costs ($190 billion); inflated prices ($105 billion); prevention failures ($55 billion), and fraud ($75 billion). Although there were some areas of overlap, the members of the institute agreed upon the rough figure of 750 billion dollars wasted annually. These are the areas of our health care system we should be particularly concerned with. Many Americans are left underinsured or dropped from their insurance companies altogether in order for them to save money and cut costs at our expense. We are paying higher costs while the money we are paying into the system is being used frivolously by those in charge. This in turn means that we are receiving a lower quality of health care due to the waste incurred by the health care companies. The fact is that 750 billion dollars annually is enough to provide health care for the uninsured, yet we are relying on higher taxes and budget cuts for a solution, when the real solution is cutting the waste of our current health care system. in my personal opinion the best way to counter these effects is to be cognizant consumers and become more educated about our health care system. After all the current system cannot survive if we both as citizens and consumers start asking questions and raising concerns about the state of our nations health care. 

Can We Really Afford It?

Where is it that we get the money to fund this new Obama Care plan? Now that everyone has this new, affordable health care plan how are we going to fund all the hospitals, equipment and medicines? My educated guess is going to be to raise taxes. It is kind of like everything else that we have to fund. For instance look at our state schools, where are we getting the money to fund these government run schools? From our taxes? A perfect example of this is Prop 30. Now that it has passed we have to pay the price and will wind up paying more money over the long run. People don’t realize it, but if you add up all the little tax dollars we pay over the years, you’ll find yourself spending way more than what you actually thought. It is funny how our society wants us to be educated, but you look at the students in college and there dumb as rocks when it comes to being economically smart.They think they’re getting five hundred dollars back, but really they there just going to spend that and even more in taxes in the next couple of months. My point to all of this is that at some point we are going to run out of money. We can only tax the rich, or should I say the upper class so much., and after that what is our solution? Eventually the well is going to dry up if you don’t conserve the water that is in it. So when Obama Care kicks in how much more are we going to be taxed, and how much more will be at a loss? The Obama Care bill is going to be one trillion dollars, so where are we going to get the money to support that? We are already at a shortage of doctors in this country, so what does that mean for all the people that now have to wait even longer? There already aren’t enough hospitals for the people that have health insurance and people that are using Medicaid. I’m just concerned for our future as a country and my own health. In the near future when I need medical attention I’m hoping that I will be able to see doctors and not have to be on a time belt on when I can see them. The other thing that scares me, is that we are now giving the government more power and say. They will be able to dictate what we need and if we need it. That all comes down to what is available to us. When medicines and equipment become scarce, it will soon be dictated who really needs it and who doesn’t. None of us want to be at the short end of the stick.  When we get to that point in time, what then do we do? People ask me and say what we should do then. The honest answer is sometimes we have to take two steps back to go three steps forward. Everything is a domino effect. You give people an inch and they take a mile, so holding peoples feet to the fire is what we should go back to and not have everything be a free be in life because that’s a fantasy world

The Medical Industry and Big Business

Every day millions of medical procedures are being performed across the country, however, we rarely stop and ask whether they are medically necessary. The Wall Street Journal ran a series on medical device companies that were physician owned and questioned whether implantation was made ethically and for the benefit of the patient, or rather as a means of profit. The same issue has been plaguing the medical industry and its patients for years. Doctors take an oath to ensure that a patients best interest is always put first when determining a course of treatment or recommending a procedure. However, the medical system is set up in a way that doctors get financially rewarded for performing a medical procedure, and in some cases get a kickback for using a specific brand of product or device in which the physician may share an ownership interest. After all, at the end of the day the medical industry is a business not unlike any other, and they only make profit if they “sell” their products and services. Of course the average American will trust their doctors advice and undergo any recommended treatment as stipulated by the physician. This of course makes it rather difficult to determine if a medical procedure a doctor recommends is truly necessary or not, particularly when a person’s condition is perceived as life threatening. Especially when we are brought up in society to resect a doctor’s opinion and hold it in high regard. However, we must also understand that unfortunately doctors are not God-like and not only make mistakes, but also act unethically at times especially when financial gain is involved. This of course is why many malpractice and ethics suits are brought against those in the medical field. That is not to say that every physician is only out to make money at the patients expense. However, it is certainly a realty in far too many cases to dismiss its existence. I have a personal experience some years back that really opened my eyes to this unfortunate atrocity occurring in the medicine. My father has congestive heart failure and was taken to the hospital where the doctors evaluated him and determined that he had bradycardia, which is a slow heart rate, and recommended a pace maker. This of course is standard procedure for someone with this condition. However, the doctor also ordered an angioplasty to be done which has nothing at all to do with the bradycardia, but rather is performed when there is a blockage in the heart. Upon questioning the doctor as to its necessity, he became very agitated and indignant. It was later after some research that I learned that the procedure was very costly, ranging from 38,000 to 45,000 dollars. My father did got through with the pace maker surgery yet opted out of the angioplasty despite some more coercing from both the doctor and his nursing staff, who stated that he would have another heart attack without it. Needless to say, that was over 5 years ago and he is doing fine despite not having gone through with the additional surgery, which would have put him at a much greater risk had he actually opted for the procedure. Of course I am not advocating going against your doctors orders or defying his or her medical opinion. However, as health care consumers we must be educated and cognizant enough to weight the risks and benefits associated with health care.

Are We Really Safe?

Do people really stop and think how this new health care plan is really going to affect us.  I understand why people are for this bill, so that others may be treated when injured or sick.  Can we really afford to provide for others when we as a nation are already struggling financially?  What about the doctor situations, are they going to be overwhelmed with a number of patients they now have to see in a given day?  As for doctors, there are many that will not see Medicaid patients because they do not have insurance.  According to an article in Examiner.com 38 percent of MD’s said they don’t see Medicaid patients.  So when Obama care kicks in how many doctors will refuse to see the Medicaid patients of the new Obama system.  Will patients with higher and better insurances go to the front of the line?  Now that everyone will have health care benefits this means that the waits will be longer at hospitals and the consumption of medicines and equipment will be at a loss, there will not be enough.   According to an article on News-Press.com, Richard Foster chief of Medicare services warned congress that Obama cares cuts will result in a 40 percent loss and hospitals might have to refuse Medicaid patients.

The Future of Health Care Reform Post Election

As the 2012 election secured another term for President Obama, many are still wondering what the future will bring in the area of heath care reform. Certainly, the Affordable Care Act is no longer in danger of being axed as was promised by Obama opponent Mitt Romney. However, many are still skeptical about the health care plan’s ability to perform as it is intended. Dr. Joanne Conroy writes in the Health Care Blog about the potential of Obama Care not living up to the hype when it comes to providing everyone with quality health care. One aspect she highlights is the inevitable shortage of physicians with the influx of newly insured individuals seeking medical care. Certainly, this will be an issue in itself, as the growing demand for medical treatment will far exceed the amount of resources available. However, these are not the only issues the Obama administration will have to contend with when it comes to health care reform. As noted in an article in The Washington Post, one of the biggest challenges they face is negotiating budget cuts with Republicans and nearly $500 billion in automatic tax hikes. This will inevitably cause a hindrance to jump starting the new health care reform bill which has been the staple of Obama’s campaign. Although they have gone on record stating they are up to the challenge, it seems that the Obama administration’s work is just getting started.