Monday, September 24, 2007

How to determine the best healthcare reform plan

There’s great debate about which candidate is presenting the best healthcare reform plan. A key issue is whether insurance companies (the private sector) or our government would do a better job managing universal healthcare. Both have been criticized for serious problems of inefficiency, bureaucracy and waste (as well as questionable practices and fraud).
 
It seems to me that the only way to determine who presents the best strategy is to compare the different plans head-to-head. The comparisons must consider costs to the public and patients in terms of taxes, premiums, deductible, co-pays, and coverage for people in different locales, who are in different economic and age groups, and who have different types of health problems and risk factors. This is a very complex issue, which cannot be understood with generalities and sound-bites. So, access to a detailed comparison grid that enables in-depth analysis is critical.
 
But even such an analysis, I contend, would fail to deal with the most important factor: The need for radical reduction of inefficiency, waste and fraud; errors and omissions; over-testing, under-testing, over-treatment, under-treatment; inappropriate care, problems with safety, quality and accessibility; inadequate wellness/preventive services; poor coordination of care; etc.
 
In other words, I assert that if all patients received cost-effective (high value) sick-care and well-care services—delivered safely, efficiently and competently—people would stay healthy longer, recover more quickly from illness, utilize fewer expensive services, medications and medical devices, and have a better quality of life. In addition, the system should give competitive advantage and financial reward to healthcare providers who get the best results for the best price. The resulting quality improvements and cost savings would be astronomical.
 
I would vote for plans—be they single-payer/government-controlled or private-sector insurer based—that return the greatest savings to the consumer through lower out-of-pocket expense (including taxes and shared responsibility payments), while providing the broadest coverage and supporting policies/plans/procedures that promote continuous improvements in quality and efficiency.

1 comment:

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Prominent Doctors Step into the National Debate with a New Prescription, Cure for Health Care
Their universal, non-socialized plan secures every person’s right to the highest quality care without adding taxes or burdens on employers or taxpayers.

IADMD.org - September 24, 2007

(PRNewsChannel) / East Hampstead, N.H. – A group of elite dentists and physicians unveiled a new health care model, that without adding taxes or burdens on employers or taxpayers, secures every person’s right to the highest quality care and puts control of medicine back into the hands of doctors.


This nationwide group is from IADMD, The International Assoc. of Dental and Medical Disciplines. IADMD’s founders and directors are dentists and physicians including board specialists and heads of private practice for more than 20 years.

“The nation needs to take back the reins and put responsibility into the hands of the only ones who can really fix the health care problem: unbiased doctors who are unwaveringly devoted to the Hippocratic Oath as opposed to those attached to their insurance company’s bottom lines,” says Dr. John J. Ryan, D.M.D., the group’s founder, CEO and president.

The hallmark of IADMD’s health care initiative is a “marriage” between dentists and physicians that allows them to confer with one another for their patients’ overall health—removing barriers that often leads to illness or chronic disease.

“This is not about intermixing specialties,” says Dr. Ryan, “It’s about intermixing communication between specialties with unified strategies to make sure everyone is taken care of.”

The “marriage” also fosters each doctor’s treating of the uninsured and underinsured by doing their fair share of donated services. Dr. Ryan hopes the combined strengths will bring an end to how he says the government is hurting people, dentists and physicians and itself:

Many uninsured individuals forgo care when they do not fall within government or charitable assistance groups.
The U.S. government bestows excellent tax breaks on the average U.S. citizen—but not to doctors for donating care.
The government is seeking health care solutions while there’s a whole nation of doctors who are willing to open their doors to the disadvantaged and oppressed.
IADMD, based in New Hampshire which is home to the nation’s first presidential primary, welcomes the support of the presidential candidates.

To learn more about IADMD and its health care reform proposals, please visit www.iadmd.org.

Contact: Glenn Selig, ThePublicityAgency.com
Email: glenn @ ThePublicityAgency.com
Phone: (813) 300-5454
Web site: http://www.iadmd.org
To view this press release online: http://www.prnewschannel.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=74&z=7

This press release was issued through PRNewsChannel.com. For more information, please visit http://www.PRNewschannel.com

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Source: IADMD.org