Massachusetts: The Big Dig of health care?
By adamg - Sat, 04/05/2008 - 4:22pm.
Whoops: Health-care reform is getting people who don't need emergency care out of the emergency room, but now there aren't enough primary-care physicians outside the Boston area to handle them, the Times reports, leading Mike Mennonno to warn:
... Obviously, "fundamental truths" in the health care equation were ignored for political expediency. When the roof collapses on this thing, it's going to be a lot worse than the Ted Williams tunnel.
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chicken little
"When the roof collapses on this thing"
Health care is not a fad. As such, I'd be surprised if everyone stops going to the doctor because there aren't enough primary care physicians to handle the workload.
In particular, over burdened primary care physicians have an issue with Medicare patients because their reimbursements are less than the cost of treating them.
Mass. mandatory health care has reduced my health insurance premium by 25% for an annual savings of $2000. Yes we need more doctors and the implications for national mandatory health care may take some time.
the list
Just ads it to the list of things we need more of/less of.
Health care is a constant and ongoing issue and it continue to be. it would seem that pcps are scarce in the burbs based on the mean fact of population. More ppl are sick in the city just because the population is higher. Eventually they all will get money and move to the burbs and settle there. Just a matter of time.
This might be the real big dig of health care
telegraph.co.uk...04/17/ncomputer17.xml
Healthcare woes
I am actually from MA and can relate to both the Big Dig and the healthcare problems we are having. It makes no sense to overfund something that is not well planned out (as we saw with the big dig itself). In our state we do have universal healthcare (Mass Health) but many people are still suffering without proper care despite these efforts. Only time will tell.
Overfund? Not Well Planned Out?
I'm confused as to why you used "overfund" and "not well planned out" to describe a program that has covered over 355,000 of the 500,000 uninsured within Massachusetts.
If you're referencing the fact that this years budget is over $150 million more than what was originally proposed, I'd like to point out that the cost is directly related to the fact that more people registered for Mass Health in the first year then they estimated. While perhaps they should have estimated more, these numbers are set to settle down soon.
Actions brough forth by Senate President Therese Murray (D) have actually addressed the high priced medical treatment in Massachusetts. Her ideas for a containment bill will force a higher quality of work to occur for the price charged.
And to the individual stating that the insurance companies are the customers: With over 47 million uninsured and 25 million underinsured, thats more than a quarter of the American population directly paying for their healthcare coverage.
(source:Massachusetts Manditory Healthcare Law Cuts Number Of Uninsured In Half, But Can It Last?)
But if private health insurance companies were abolished...
wouldn't that money go a lot further? I see no value added by these intermediaries, but a lot of money skimmed away from actual health care providers.
Primary care pays too little
You don't want to be a doctor with all your money coming from government funded insurance, because the government just decides that it's going to "cut costs" and the way they do that is pay you a lot less for your service.
You'd much rather be a cosmetic surgeon and get the money straight from your clients.
Nor a patient
Nor do I want to be a patient under those circumstances. I'm not the customer; the insurance company is. The clinic has no reason to care if I'm satisfied. On the other hand, being an insurance company is a great deal. They get to run ads saying "Buy insurance or else!"
I'm glad I live in New Hampshire. But if Hillary Clinton has her way, even that won't be a refuge.
Health Reform is Working
Health reform faces major challenges, but has been very successful so far.
- over 300,000 newly covered. About 2/3 are in new subsidized coverage plans. These low income people before were consigned to emergency rooms for the most part, and got no preventive care. Another third, around 111,000, have signed up for employer based coverage. This is an amazing start in just 2 years. In every other state, the number of uninsured are growing/
- cost are down. The law lets individuals get group-rate coverage, which is much less. The cost is down about 30-40% for individuals who must buy their own coverage
- comparison shopping. By going to the Connector, you can compare plans and make a choice that's best for you. No other state lets you do this.
Costs are higher than expected, because Romney lowballed the costs, and let employers pretty much off the hook. But the cost of not covering people was high, too. Hospitals raise their rates to make up for all the uninsured in their emergency departments.
The bill was a compromise, and it's never perfect. It's not fully phased-in yet, either. But comparisons to the Dig are out of place.
Health Care in the UK is Not Much Better!
Over here in the uk the health care system is forever in the news for under-funding and health care workers not being paid the wage that they deserve. Seems like it will always be a problem.
Got Health?
US Health-care system is a big joke and the small steps states individually try to take does not solve the overall problem: it's the whole health-care system that needs to be completely reformed and only a new President can accomplish such task from Washington DC. Otherwise we will only face problems and be able to come up with minor temporary solutions, rather than addressing the problem itself.