Post
by AlabamAlum » Tue Jun 03, 2014 1:22 pm
I disagree that most workers are overpaid. Should a nurse and a CT tech be paid less than a pipefitter. A plumber? Some will even champion raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour while decrying what healthcare workers make. Kinda funny. And as far as being obscenely overpaid, the hospitals that I've worked at over my career average, maybe, a 2% margin. A couple were less than that.
Now, there are luxuries in all hospitals here that are more limited in other countries: CTs MRIs, gamma knives, davinci arms, etc, abound here, and our rooms and common spaces are much nicer. We get extras here that aren't available elsewhere. We're spoiled. Patients pissed because we didn't have HBO was something that I've dealt with. "I want steak for dinner!" "I think you should provide mama a 1-on-1 sitter or nurse."
So, we can cut down on services in an area by allowing only one CT per 500k people in a community, cut the frills and niceties, and we can close some hospitals - and Americans are generally okay with that (as long as it isn't the hospital in their community). Are there positives in doing this? Sure. But make no mistake, there are negatives, too.
Interesting that you mention prostate cancer. In the future, your ability to survive will have less to do with your ability to pay, no doubt; however, variables such as age and comorbidities may exclude you from treatment. There is a give-and-take in the services offered and how quickly you get your ACL tear repaired, and your options for deciding whether you even get surgery (as opposed to being treated by more economical means) might be taken out of your hands (even more than it is now).
I think we needed an intermediate step. We have had the truly poor covered with CMS offerings, and the middle class and above were generally okay (although bolstering catastrophic coverage woulda helped). The working poor - who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to pay for BCBS and eat - were the issue. Expanding the CMS umbrella was doable.
Nonetheless, this discussion is nothing but an academic exercise. What is done is done. Our HC trajectory won't be as bad as many believe, but it certainly won't be as positive as others think.
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity."
— Abraham Lincoln
__________________________________________
Yes, I still miss Coach Bryant.