I’m Busted
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Stanley Feld M.D., FACP, MACE. |
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I
have described how most of the major programs initiated by Obamacare,
(such
as the Accountable Care Organizations, the Electronic Health Record
initiatives and the Health Insurance Exchanges development), are failing or off
to a slow start.
A detailed critique of the Obama
administrations’ Obamacare can be found using the search engine in my blog.
If
you receive my blog by email (RSS) double click on the blog title or go to the
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for the topic in the search engine in the top right corner of the blog post.
The
shortcomings of Obamacare are becoming obvious to many citizens. Most physicians
and hospital systems are finding Obamacare’s new programs difficult to execute.
A
reader wrote
"Dear Dr. Feld,
Once it becomes so painful for the
average voter, Obama will simply say, “a single payer system is the only way to
fix this insurance company mess.” He’s doing exactly what he planned to
do, he’s just not telling the truth about it.
X"
It
is becoming more apparent that President Obama’s goal has been to destroy the public
and private sector healthcare systems. In reality the money in both the public and
private healthcare system has been controlled by the healthcare insurance
industry and not by the government.
The
Obama administration is building the infrastructure to easily convert the
healthcare system to a single party payer system. The majority of Americans are
opposed to a single party payer system. It eliminates choice.
The
expense of Obamacare has been and will be enormous to all stakeholders with 300
new agencies and 20,000 new regulations.
The
new healthcare taxes are scheduled to take effect almost monthly.
At
present at least 40% of the healthcare system is a single party payer system
when considering the government healthcare plans in place.
The
Obama administration will have two major problems converting America totally to
a single party payer.
The
public will be outraged when it becomes aware of that the direct costs to them,
the lack of availability of medical care and restriction to access to care
caused by Obamacare.
There
are two possible solutions. Either repeal Obamacare and start from square one
or let the government control the entire system.
The
government will not be able to afford a single party payer system. It will have
no choice but to increase taxes further to support the healthcare system.
The
other major problem Obamacare will have with a universal single party payer system is the
healthcare insurance industry will continue to control the money in the system.
The
government does not have the infrastructure to provide the administrative
services and to adjudication claims. There are many hidden cost in the movement
of money that most are unaware of.
The entire situation reminds
me of Ray Charles’ song “I’m busted.”
In 2008, after President
Obama was elected I wrote him six letters explaining how he could reduce the
costs of medical care in America by introducing cost savings initiatives.
Dear President Obama Part 1
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2008/11/dear-president-elect-obama.html
Dear President Obama Part 2
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2008/11/dear-president-elect-obama-part-2.html
Dear President Obama Part 3
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2008/11/dear-president-elect-obama-part-3.html
Dear President Obama Part 4
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2008/12/dear-president-elect-obama-part-4.html
Dear President Obama Part 5
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2008/12/dear-president–elect-barack-obama-part-5.html
Dear President Obama Part 6
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2008/12/dear-president-elect-obama-part-6-why-dont-you-listen-to-practicing-physicians.html
I took a Willie Sutton
approach. “ Go where the money is.”
If the government provided incentives to decrease
wasteful spending, the healthcare system would self correct without the myriad rules
and regulations that
will not work and cannot be enforce.
Simple things such as:
- Incentivize individual responsibility with Medical
Savings Accounts, - Encourage the use of a Universal Electron Health
Record with a fully functional EHR in the cloud. Physicians and hospitals would
pay for its use inexpensively by the click. It would be sort of like a toll way
fee without capital expense. The EHR could be upgraded and serviced at no
expense. - Create a healthcare system that is consumer driven
with consumer owning their healthcare dollars and being responsible for their
healthcare choices. - A Tort Reform System that eliminates the need for
defensive medicine that over tests patients to avoid law suits. - Chronic Disease Management Systems to teach patients
to be the professor of their disease in order to avoid costly complications of
their disease. - Develop patient educational systems available on the
Internet 24/7 as an extension of their physicians’ care. - Help develop disease specific Social Networks. The development
of a disease specific community can serve to solve some problems patients have. - Eliminate secondary stakeholder waste, fraud and
abuse. - Eliminate the purchase of first dollar healthcare coverage
from the healthcare insurance industry
I believe if all of the
above was done correctly it would save $750 billion to $1 trillion dollars a
year for the healthcare system.
President Obama has ignored
every point I have tried to make. Obamacare has not included any of the real
cost drivers in a non-punitive way.
He has simply added a huge
bureaucracy with rules and regulations that are expensive, difficult to execute
and more difficult to enforce.
If my recommendations were initiated
and executed properly America would have a sustainable healthcare system.
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone
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