Obama cannot tackle health care reform right now. If you reduce the bureaucratic overhead and put about 750,000 more people out of work, we may be close to a full depression.
And yet, to decrease the costs in health care, we must decrease the administrative costs.
Drugs, in this country cost as much as the care for Primary Care Physicians.
Specialists earn twice as much.
Administration is somewhere between the two.
Hospitals in this quadrangle make a greater percentage, but given their multifaceted role (some diagnostic, some treatment, some housing, some bureaucratic) this is not surprising.
Currently my state, Illinois, is on the verge of bankrupcy. Part of this is because the former governor, Blagoyevich tried to provide coverage under medicaid to low income adults without the means for the state to pay for it (seems he was no better at finding money for himself, or was he.)
We have to have one set of rules, prices and operational definitions on which to operate. This is most easily done through SINGLE PAYOR, but that could be state or regional wide. It does not have to be a direct governmental agency, it could be Blue Cross of the Midwest (hopefully not BCBS IL they have their issues) And I agree we need some type of collective bargaining or negotiating power and NOT through the AMA (doesn't that also stand for against medical advice?)
