Curing America's Health Care

A while ago, I wrote about how America's 'private' health care system currently costs the taxpayer almost as much as running the British National Health Care service - and then charges the consumer even more than that on top!

Well, the fact that American health care costs too much is no longer under debate. Today, Price Waterhouse Coopers' Health Research Institute listed money-wasting problems that cause the American health care industry to pour $1.2 trillion down the drain every year (roughly half of the money spent on medicine.)

What were these financial hemorrhages? Here are some of the worst ones identified by Price Waterhouse Cooper:

1. Two many tests. Making an informed diagnosis is one thing. Running unnecessary tests is another. Capping malpractice suits and encouraging 'evidence-based' diagnosis could cut the amount of expensive tests performed in half - and save insurance companies billions.
2. Insurance company bureaucracy. I've already argued that the insurance companies are almost criminal in their bureaucratic incompetence, but the proof is finally here. Doctors report that 40% of their revenue is spent filling in insurance company certification - simply getting the money for the services they've performed. Price Waterhouse Cooper argue that standardized forms and a computerized database system (as touted by President Obama) could shred this waste of time and money - cutting doctor's overheads dramatically and lowering costs for both insurance companies and patients.
3. Paper prescriptions. It's not just the insurance companies who are behind the times. Many doctors can send 'electronic prescriptions' to a patient's chemist almost instantly, but over $4 billion a year is wasted by doctors who still insist on writing their prescriptions the old fashioned way.
4. 'Free' medical care for the uninsured. No, I'm not arguing that people without insurance shouldn't receive care. What is causing a problem is them using the Emergency Room as a primary care provider. Illegal immigrants and the uninsured go to the ER for strep throat and other 'regular' health problems, which a GP would normally deal with. A GP visit would cost around $70. A trip to the ER costs $700. At the end of the day, those costs are passed along to the paying customer (i.e. us) if the hospitals or doctors don't get reimbursed.
5. Over-prescribing antibiotics. It's estimated that prescribing antibiotics for conditions they simply can't treat (like coughs, colds and flu) costs over a billion dollars in wasted medicine and contributes to the development of antibiotic-immune MRSA bacteria, which in turn add an additional $3 billion worth care-associated infections. Doctors need to start practicing the medicine they studied and not give out antibiotics as placebos.
   
6. Hospital Bed Churn. It's estimated that $25 billion is spent every year on providing medical care to patients who are discharged from hospital too early. The pressure to get 'em in and churn 'em out inspires doctors and hospitals to discharge patients before they're ready - and the added cost of ambulance trips, re-admittance and recovery hurts all of our wallets.
   

The grand total, Price Waterhouse Cooper argue, is a whopping $1.2 trillion in wasted expenditure. Just imagine if we slashed that spending.

If you could, you might arguably maintain the current system on taxpayer dollars alone (according to this Economist report.) Alternatively, you could dramatically slash insurance premiums for the majority of us with coverage.

But identifying the waste and actually dealing with it are two starkly different things. One's got to wonder if either party will actually use this information, now that Price Waterhouse Cooper has made it available. I'm skeptical.

The Republican party is currently gunning to maintain the current system - bitterly fighting against any of Obama's suggested health care reforms whilst simultaneously failing to provide any worthwhile alternative suggestions of their own.

Meanwhile, many Democrats are still wound up in fantasies of 'universal health care' and demolishing a private industry which provides almost 20% of the United State's GDP - all for the sake of a government-run system that's been proven not to work in half a dozen other countries.