Health Care--Updated

Back in 2009 my post on health care indicated that US health care costs averaged about $7,000 a person. Now when you divide our total health care cost by the population it's around $11,000. I am certain that Obama Care--if left to stand--will dramatically increase these costs
AND there will still be individuals outside this system.

I've been fortunate to have health insurance and now Medicare plus a supplement that for a reasonable price has covered most of the stuff I've been through the past few years. Last year I suffered nerve damage in both hands from a very long bike ride, crashed in Paris-Brest-Paris suffering a fractured right clavicle and then discovering that my rotator cuff in the same shoulder was torn. That led to my second shoulder surgery a few months ago. Besides my health insurance premiums my only out of pocket expenses were the continuous passive movement (CPM) machine post shoulder surgery which Medicare would not cover since I didn't have total shoulder replacement surgery.

So I'm pretty lucky in that over the past few years I've averaged more than $11,000 in medical costs per year without having had to pay anywhere near that amount. But there's no doubt that the American health care system is deeply flawed. I think the biggest single reason is most of us have no real idea just what our own true health care actually costs. Oh yeah, I see huge bills that doctors and hospitals send to my insurance companies, and sometimes I find out how much is actually paid to providers which is sometimes pennies on the dollars. But I have no real skin in the game any more especially now that I'm on Medicare with a supplement.

I do not believe our government can truly reform this system with all the proposals for a national health care system. All the government will do is transfer money among the haves and have nots, and create even more bureaucracy. Until we change the fundamental way medical insurance is administered--plans largely bought through employers that disappear for an individual when changing employment--things are not going to improve the efficiency of the system. Notice I also just referred to the issue as medical insurance. It's not really health care because most folks have to encounter a potential medical problem before they claim a benefit.

For many individuals there's no health care dollar incentive to follow a reasonably healthy life style. Look at how many Americans are obese, smoke, or make other unhealthy choices. Many Americans are ready to crucify insurance companies for the premiums being charged but how many of these same folks don't take charge of controllable health habits? And if we're going to eliminate the ability to charge for any pre-existing conditions then perhaps we should simply do away with insurance companies and have the government bill everyone $11,000 a year. That would be a nice extra with holding from our pay checks wouldn't it?

Bottom line: when individuals have more skin in the game and tax free incentives to take better care of themselves health care will get much healthier.