Hospital administrators pillaging healthcare

[KinasePro]

Are you joking? Cutting administrative salary does little.

Where did I say cutting administrative salaries was the answer? You sure beat that straw man to death (I did too, if you read my post).

I said one plausible solution is less administration, not cheaper administration, as the docs in wisc and ks demonstrated. Less middle men, less bureaucracy to fund, more transparency in cost setting, etc...

I'm also curious as to why you think single payer is unlikely. Nearly everyone can agree that the current model is unsustainable, so what would come next?

I agree with you on the VA. Let's take a look at why though. What's the difference between active/retired healthcare at MTFs (successful single payer), and the VA?

For one, healthcare policy is now political kryptonite and significant changes will be avoided for the foreseeable future. Two, single payer is radically different from the current model and would never garner partisan support. Three, a two tiered system while socially unjust is far more palpable to the middle class and above. Four, it's a significant philosophical jump and arguably unconstitutional reach to force physicians to accept payment only from a single payer. Five, sadly money rules politics and insurance companies have money, etc...

Re: VA, it's been scandal ridden for decades, plagued by poor leadership, workers have incentives to underperform and are hard to eliminate, limited accountability from top-to-bottom, too big to enact change effectively, etc... IMO it's what you'd expect when the gov't takes on such a horrendously complicated task as administering comprehensive healthcare.

Though that's my $0.02, how are MTFs different?

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[NontradCA]

Where did I say cutting administrative salaries was the answer? You sure beat that straw man to death (I did too, if you read my post).

I said one plausible solution is less administration, not cheaper administration, as the docs in wisc and ks demonstrated. Less middle men, less bureaucracy to fund, more transparency in cost setting, etc...



For one, healthcare policy is now political kryptonite and significant changes will be avoided for the foreseeable future. Two, single payer is radically different from the current model and would never garner partisan support. Three, a two tiered system while socially unjust is far more palpable to the middle class and above. Four, it's a significant philosophical jump and arguably unconstitutional reach to force physicians to accept payment only from a single payer. Five, sadly money rules politics and insurance companies have money, etc...

Re: VA, it's been scandal ridden for decades, plagued by poor leadership, workers have incentives to underperform and are hard to eliminate, limited accountability from top-to-bottom, too big to enact change effectively, etc... IMO it's what you'd expect when the gov't takes on such a horrendously complicated task as administering comprehensive healthcare.

Though that's my $0.02, how are MTFs different?

We're posting in a thread about cutting administrative salaries and you posted on how it's one solution. I don't see how that's a straw man by any stretch. K. Sure, if medicine was controlled by physicians then it would be better. I don't see how healthcare policy is political kryptonite when all the President and the Republican party have talked about for the past 2 years is the ACA. Do you live in America too or? As I pointed out before, the ACA does little to change the system and will only accelerate it's crash.

The VA has a lot of red tape, but moreover, there's no desire to take care of its patients. The government and public doesn't give a **** about veterans. MTFs are completely different. There's so much preventative care, and the population is a lot healthier. There's a lot of incentive for the government to have healthy fighting troops. The patients in the VA are disproportionately sick when compared to the civilian population and getting access is hard. It's the complete opposite on the MTF side, it's just the government gives you good care while you're in, then tells you you're SoL.

 

[KinasePro]

We're posting in a thread about cutting administrative salaries and you posted on how it's one solution. I don't see how that's a straw man by any stretch. K.

Less administration does not equal cutting administrative salaries, that's why your rant was burning a straw man that I never argued for in the first place. Actually, I argued against the rationale of cutting salaries as a solution, but I don't care enough to bicker further.

I don't see how healthcare policy is political kryptonite when all the President and the Republican party has talked about for the past 2 years is the ACA. Do you live in America too or? As I pointed out before, the ACA does little to change the system and will only accelerate it's crash.

We are now post-ACA, and most would argue the net effect of ACA has been broadly negative for the democrats from a political perspective. Midterms aren't looking good for dems who are sticking with ACA, looking better for those who are distancing themselves from it. As you said, ACA hardly did anything to change the payment model, yet still there was plenty of political crucifixion to get this thing passed. Even this tweak in healthcare philosophy was like pulling teeth, and the country is still reeling from it and sick of hearing about it. ACA is the last of medical reform that we'll see for a long time IMO, apart from likely future efforts to soften ACA even further.

 

[DermViser]

I think this article is stupid. Physicians are always crying about class warfare, but this is exactly what they are doing by attacking administrators. Sure, most of the general public will eat this up, but I wouldn't count on them taking sides with physicians.

Wrong again. Try harder next time.

 

[DermViser]

The best you can hope for is a single payer system.

I'm sure you would love that. Let's ask the doctors and veterans who go to the VA in Phoenix.

 

[Delayed2017]

I'm sure you would love that. Let's ask the doctors and veterans who go to the VA in Phoenix.

Single payer systems can have problems, but we don't need a single payer system. Look at Germany.

The German system has universal coverage (what the ACA was supposed to achieve) but not a single payer system. There is an individual mandate, but there are multiple insurance options AND "gold plate" insurance for those who can afford it. Germans have better access to care (there are no health networks, they have access to same day or non-ER after hours appointments far more frequently than Americans do) AND they pay less (per capita spending in Germany is about 4000 USD cheaper). They also have far better public health measures than the U.S. (infant mortality and life expenctency).

 

[NontradCA]

Wrong again. Try harder next time.

Try harder at what?

 

[DermViser]

Try harder at what?

Try harder in actually knowing what you're talking about, if you think this is a class warfare argument. The difference between 1970 to now with respect to hospitals is more MBA type administrator positions, with no real healthcare experience. Hospitals with physicians at the head have tended to be better run - i.e. the Cleveland Clinic for example.

 

[circulus vitios]

I want to be a healthcare CEO.

 

[NontradCA]

Try harder in actually knowing what you're talking about, if you think this is a class warfare argument. The difference between 1970 to now with respect to hospitals is more MBA type administrator positions, with no real healthcare experience. Hospitals with physicians at the head have tended to be better run - i.e. the Cleveland Clinic for example.

Thanks for the revelation.
Hospitals nowadays are banking a **** ton more than they were in the 70s.

 

[DermViser]

Thanks for the revelation.

No problem. Easy for someone like you to miss the obvious and try to blame it on a "class warfare" argument. Just had to point it out.

 

[NontradCA]

No problem. Easy for someone like you to miss the obvious and try to blame it on a "class warfare" argument. Just had to point it out.

What is the obvious, exactly?

 

[DermViser]

What is the obvious, exactly?

Try reading again. It's that obvious.

 

[NontradCA]

Try reading again. It's that obvious.

The propaganda article? No thanks.

 

[DermViser]

The propaganda article? No thanks.

No, my post and actual facts on the ground.

 

[NontradCA]

No, my post and actual facts on the ground.

K?