Reducing Medical Costs

The Healthcare industry costs are unsustainable, because it doesn’t operate in a true free market where prices are controlled by supply and demand.  60% of healthcare costs are covered by tax subsidized welfare.

Healthcare providers have accumulated a long list of problems that need to be exposed and debunked

Malpractice suits have contaminated healthcare with defensive medical practices guaranteed to add unnecessary costs. Hospitals do not object to these defensive medical practices because they make money by overcharging for useless tests. Doctors go along with this scam to avoid malpractice suits.

Doctors have replaced accurate diagnostic skill development with unnecessary defensive medicine testing.  Doctors are often unable to properly diagnose the cause of illnesses.  Patients can be charged $60,000 for hospital tests that fail to identify the cause of their pains before they administer anti-biotics to stop inflammation.  If the doctor’s job was simply to cure the symptom, they could skip the “fishing trip” that requires all of these tests and pre-scribe anti-biotics for pain.

Post-op infections are common in over 50% of all surgeries. These should be preventable.  Post-surgical openings used to drain fluids should be banned and less problematic solutions should be applied.

Hospitals are breeding grounds for cross-contamination of diseases between patients.  Flesh eating bacteria can be contracted in hospitals, rivers and lakes. I recommend staying away from all of these places.

Vaccines are suspect and should be pulled where they appear to be the cause of other maladies. Vaccines should not be mandatory. 

Too many medications have too many damaging side-effects. Just listen to the disclaimers in TV ads for pills.

Too many life-saving medications are priced too high.

Patients need to be able to appeal Insurance coverage denials of their medications by bureaucrats. These denials often result in much more expensive treatment.

The FDA needs to de-politicized and function like Underwriters Labs (UL).

Doctors need to admit the shortcomings of the healthcare system and admit that medicine is a “trial and error” process as it has always been.  They need to admit that earlier cancer treatments with radiation and chemo needed to be refined so that the treatment doesn’t do more harm than the disease.

Malpractice suits need to be banned.  County medical associations can continue to police their members with suspensions and pulling licenses. Lawyers need to find other scams to live off of and let malpractice suits be banned.

Patients need to take personal responsibility for their own preventive health by taking 100% of all daily requirements of vitamins and especially minerals. This alone will help them keep their weight down to cure their own Diabetes II.

Patients need to be “patient” with minor aches and pains. These are probably due to normal muscle strain and can be treated with aspirin.

Patients need to be told the costs associated with their treatment ahead of time and should be able to shop around for the best price, especially in hospitals.

End of life events can be more expensive than they are worth. These patients need assistance with pain management to give them a chance to recover from whatever is bothering them. They need to be able to get some rest in the hope that they will get better. Home healthcare is recommended.

The human body is designed to heal itself.  The doctor’s job is to help the body do just that. 

Dr. Jack Kevorkian had promoted assisted suicide. He died at age 83 in 2011 of pulmonary thrombosis (possible blood clot) following kidney and respiratory problems. He apparently was not charged with assisting his own suicide, so he probably didn’t.  We don’t really know anything; we are just guessing.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader