wrote:
On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:07:57 -0500, thunder
wrote:

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:39:10 -0400, gfretwell wrote:


How can anyone believe a government medical agency will be cheaper than
someone with a profit motive to cut costs?
Huh? Because the motive it to increase profits, not cut costs. While
it's not a fair comparison, Medicare's administrative costs are @6%,
compared to the 20-25% of our current health care system. Perhaps, more
telling, administrative costs in a for-profit hospital are @ 34%, as
opposed to 24.5% at non-profits, but get this, the costs are 22.9% at
public hospitals, you know, government run hospitals.

http://www.pnhp.org/single_payer_resources/
forprofit_hospitals_cost_more_and_have_higher_admi nistration_expenses.php


Medicare is not going to be a good example for you to hang your hat
on. A lot of the administration is actually done by the health care
provider and SSA/IRS does the accounts receivables. It is hard to get
a fair number to compare.
You also have to understand that taking 3% of every wage dollar earned
in this country they are still going broke providing health care to
16% of the population.


A tremendous amount of "administration" is done by health care providers
who have to deal with the vagaries of private health insurance companies.

We probably would not have the horrific health insurance problems that
challenge us today if the insurers were properly regulated, as they are
under the Federal Employes Health Benefit Act. Hundreds of insurers
compete to get in and stay in this program, and offer top coverage, more
than competitive rates, and a plan for almost every pocketbook.
Typically, the plans are offered by employe organizations to any federal
employe. The organization retains an underwriter and processor to handle
the actual operation of the plan, and the plans are easy to compare as
to which organization is offering what. The plans are profitable, there
is a lot less waste than in the totally private sector, and there is a
lot of innovation.

There's nothing magical or even particularly efficient about the health
care industry today.


--
A wise Latina makes better decisions than a dumb elephant.