Is Massachusetts Health Care Actually Working?

[somarco]

I have a client that used to live in Canada. He tells me that a lot of the stories about the wait times, denial of care, etc. in Canada are absolutely false.

PRIMARY care usually isn't the issue there, or Brittain, or France, or Italy . . .

It is when you have something major and are put on a waiting list for MRI, CT, etc.

There are too many stories out there about queue's to believe they are all made up or exaggerated.

 

[bill3173]

There are too many stories out there about queue's to believe they are all made up or exaggerated.

I have a life client that lives in Canada, and from what she's told me, nothing has been exaggerated.

In fact, she told me that Doctor's offices will shut down for inordinate periods of time in the Summer, and the idea that you just "go to the Doctor" is a fanciful notion there.

She had no reason to make this up, she was very much involved in getting health insurance for her spouse here, and is in awe of the American System that we have in place.

 

[somarco]

I have a foreign national client (Brit) that lives here. She said the NHS is great for routine (PCP) stuff but has horror stories about friends and relatives with long waits.

Nick Perry has a client that is an Italian citizen with similar stories.

 

[HealthGuy]

Healthcare nirvana is across the border. Pure healthcare orgasm crossing into Canada.

 

[Norwayguy]

The MA program, soon after implementation, faced a huge budget crisis and needed 1.5 billion from the feds to cover a three year period to time. I do not believe they have received federal dollars after that emergency 1.5 billion in emergency funding.

They got funding to setup an exchange that went straight to shoring up this program...Its the same thing Maine did with its exchange money shored up Dirigo.

 

[joyellen]

Thanks for the history/govt./econ. lesson! I agree about NASA.

As usual our HealthGuy cuts to the chase. It's a good question.

It can be debated until the moon turns blue. We've had the same debate since the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the New Deal programs of the 1930s, the creation of NASA in the 50s, the civil rights public accommodation mandates of the 1960s and on and on.

I well remember when I was in high school and Medicare was being debated in 1963 the AMA said it would be the end of American hospitals and doctor-patient care that was the best in the world. The docs and hospitals put up a vicious fight against Kennedy and Johnson, more hateful than what conservatives have to say about Obama.

Right or wrong, this is why elections matter, as does ability to control or influence the general media. In 1964 the nation had the opportunity to select a president who said he would eliminate both Medicare as well as the civil rights laws. Goldwater was obliterated by LBJ (who was hardly popular or anyone's idea of a "media" candidate like JFK was.)

In line with the MA article, I'm always hearing that "Doctors are leaving Medicare." They may be leaving private practice and accepting "jobs" with organizations like Kaiser, but the economics are simple. When you go to your doctor and the waiting room is filled, who makes up the majority of people... young guys like you, or old guys like me? I'll bet at least half the room are on Medicare.

One question you folks might ask yourselves. What if there WAS no health insurance of any kind? None. No IFP. No group. No Medicare or Medicaid? If there was no monster-pool of money to draw from, what would it cost to see a doctor or have a heart transplant?

Answer, doctor visit would be $10 and there would be no heart transplants because no one would invent the incredibly complex and expensive machines (and drugs) necessary for the procedure. They would never get a return on their investment.

When you build an imaging machine for a million dollars, it can be sold for two million because the hospital can charge $1,000 a procedure and get it from the insurance companies and it pencils out over time. 2,000 scans and it's paid for. Can you do 5 a day? If so, it's paid for in a year and two months. (When it's time to buy a new one!)

A huge pool of insurance money is the oil in the health care engine. The kind of oil that was (is) running the engine now is not working (underwritten IFP and GI group.) We need new oil and more of it to keep it going... and only the federal government can "make" (enough of) that kind of oil (assuming we stopped fighting trillion dollar wars, ended farm subsidies, cut the defense budget in half, closed NASA, and stopped spending on the thousand and one things the government spends on and put the money into a single payor system.)

Like I say, elections matter. I have no doubt the 2012 will be a referendum on Obamacare just as 1964 was one on Medicare. I expect Obama will win with 375 electoral votes to 163 (270 needed to win.) That's what the result was four years ago and I don't see any major changes.

However, as I said elections DO matter and I don't rule out the possibility that there could be an "upset." But having studied the American political system for 40 years (I did my masters in Government at William and Mary, 1974,) while not an expert, I DO know the basics of election history... and given the choice of dumping Obamacare and going back to what is was (is,) I don't see it happening. Perhaps if the opposition comes up with a rival plan AND said candidate has personal appeal, things might change, but as of today, I just don't see it.

YMMV.

Al