I'm glad to see that you admit the system is flawed. The only problem is that once a system is put into place, implementing change will require sacrifice for the betterment of all.
A few examples with regards to the ridiculous flaws in the United States health care industry:
1. When you think of drug addicts in the United States, which demographics comes to mind? Would you be surprised to learn that nearly 2 million senior citizens in this country are addicted to prescription drugs, with our very own health care system as the legal pusher?
The annual average number of prescription drugs per senior citizen is 38 with an average annual cost close to $3,000 per senior. Multiply that by the number of seniors (33.2 million recorded in 1994 census) and you have one hell of an expenditure on your hands . Physicians write prescriptions without batting an eye, failing to recognize the possible interactions with other meds and OTC drugs. This is a silent and costly epidemic which needs to be stopped immediately.
2. We live in a country that turns a blind eye to the indigent elderly and mentally ill. Even if they do not meet skilled nursing requirements, we sweep them into nursing homes because they don't have the means to pay for private care. Guess what? Nursing homes cost tax payers 3 times more per individual when they should be placed into home health or assisted living environments. Many states are starting to catch on to affordable housing for these individuals, but not fast enough.
3. To qualify for Medicaid, the gross income eligibility standard per individual is $2,022/month with $2,000 or less in liquid assets. That's fine and dandy, however there is a loophole in the system which allows individuals requiring long-term care to "protect" their assets by establishing an irrevocable trust. This is typically pursued by greedy family members who want to protect their inheritance. They do this by paying an elder law attorney to place the assets in a trust to remove them from Medicaid consideration as "available resources". MEANING...the financial responsibility of long-term care is now the burden of the tax payers while the greedy Power of Attorney and/or family member retains the assets.
And these are just three examples of gross mishandling of the current health care system by our inept government.
So Amby, what are your suggestions to cut costs and implement change into this very broken system?
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