Friday, August 27, 2010

Health-Care Myths

Don't be misleaded whenever you hear about health-care myths. You have to understand about 3 myths on health-care reform we seem to hear repeatedly.

Myth#1. - Rising Health-Care Costs Are a Problem in Themselves.
Health-care costs are in fact revenues and fast rising revenues are usually seen as exciting and loudable in every industry except one. How come?, - you might ask. It's for the fact that in health care we aren't getting our money's worth,a dn tons of dollars are wasted. So, the problem is not that we're spending so much, but why.
So, make advocates tell how their plan would address the "why" by cutting waste and boosting efficiency, and when they do, make sure they don't invoke.

Myth#2. - The Fee-For-Service System is a Major part of the Problem.
The reason we buy lots of unnecessary health-care services is not the fee-for-service system, which we use to buy almost all services! It's because we aren't paying with our own money. 12% of US health-care spending is out of pocket, which has been falling for decades.
If more money should only be spent more carefully on our behalf for health care, it should have been spent on services directly or on insurance that covers those services.
Don't allow reform partisans to tell you how they will eliminate fee-for-service, make them tell you how they would let consumers direct more of their own health-care spending.

Myth#3. A Well-Designed Government Plan Can Avoid Rationing.
Let's just face it. Health care will be rationed and it must be. Saying it otherwise means the government can supply it in unlimited quantities to everyone.
Also, health care is rationed in private systems as well, but done by price and they don't call it rationing. Reform that widens coverage improves outcomes, and reduces waste is such an ambitious goal that we may fail to achieve it.

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