Some fixes that might help to control medical costs

[Old Texas Reb]

1. Give Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices directly with the manufacturers as the VA does, eliminating the Pharmacy Benefit Managers and other middlemen.
2. Require hospitals, doctor's offices and pharmacies to CLEARLY post the prices (with & without insurance) of the most common medical procedures, prescriptions and insurance copays at their places of business. That way patients can comparison shop and know what their out of pocket costs will be. Also require that patients be able to get a cost estimate from the provider of more complicated services UP FRONT before making a decision on treatment.

Would you sign a contract for remodeling your house without an estimate of the cost up front?

 

[Kosh]

Well there are some doctors who are forming co operatives that offer insurance at rate as low as $60 per month..

Patient/Physician Cooperatives Healthcare | CooperativePlus

 

[Desperado]

Prohibit Prescription drug commercials, if you can;t buy it without a prescriptin you can't advertise it at all

 

[candycorn]

Ewwww look dear, there is a special on the quadruple by-pass. Forget that double that your doctor recommended.

 

[Markle]

1. Give Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices directly with the manufacturers as the VA does, eliminating the Pharmacy Benefit Managers and other middlemen.
2. Require hospitals, doctor's offices and pharmacies to CLEARLY post the prices (with & without insurance) of the most common medical procedures, prescriptions and insurance copays at their places of business. That way patients can comparison shop and know what their out of pocket costs will be. Also require that patients be able to get a cost estimate from the provider of more complicated services UP FRONT before making a decision on treatment.

Would you sign a contract for remodeling your house without an estimate of the cost up front?

Yes, Medicare should be able to negotiate prices.

People will not comparison-shop unless the money is coming out of their pocket.

Impossible to get a cost estimate of more complicated procedures. Too many things can happen or go wrong. 103 years ago I went in for a simple appendectomy. No big deal, most surgeons could probably do it blindfolded. I was in surgery for almost five hours.

A far more doable and effective would be tort reform. I don't feel that many things in England are better than the United States but we do need to adopt their civil suit judicial policies. Briefly, loser pays. If I sue you, and I lose, I pay your legal fees and my own. It does not prohibit an attorney from taking a case on a contingency basis. However, they and/or their client will pay the defendants costs if the plaintiff loses.

The medical field especially is the victim of countless frivolous lawsuits. Many know they have no serious case but know that the deep pockets will pay something to just make them go away.

 

[Markle]

Prohibit Prescription drug commercials, if you can;t buy it without a prescriptin you can't advertise it at all

I agree it is illegal to advertise hard alcohol and cigarettes. Both items are legal over the counter products if you meet the drinking age.

 

[dblack]

Would you sign a contract for remodeling your house without an estimate of the cost up front?

If someone else was paying for it? Maybe. Why would I care?

 

[Dan Stubbs]

1. Give Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices directly with the manufacturers as the VA does, eliminating the Pharmacy Benefit Managers and other middlemen.
2. Require hospitals, doctor's offices and pharmacies to CLEARLY post the prices (with & without insurance) of the most common medical procedures, prescriptions and insurance copays at their places of business. That way patients can comparison shop and know what their out of pocket costs will be. Also require that patients be able to get a cost estimate from the provider of more complicated services UP FRONT before making a decision on treatment.

Would you sign a contract for remodeling your house without an estimate of the cost up front?

They need to look into price gouging and price fixing.

 

[dblack]

You all have it backwards. Price transparency isn't the problem, it's merely a symptom. The reason doctors get away with hiding their prices, or even 'gouging' or 'price-fixing', is that health care consumers don't care. They're not spending their own money. If anything, the cost incentives are reversed. Once you've gone past your deductible, you might as well choose the most expensive option at every opportunity.

This would help, but Congress will never vote for it:

Free Our Health Care, Stop Big Insurance

 

[Cecilie1200]

Prohibit Prescription drug commercials, if you can;t buy it without a prescriptin you can't advertise it at all

How is withholding information from the actual healthcare consumers - the patients - helpful?

 

[Desperado]

Prohibit Prescription drug commercials, if you can;t buy it without a prescriptin you can't advertise it at all

How is withholding information from the actual healthcare consumers - the patients - helpful?

it is not the actual healthcare consumers who prescribe the drugs, The consumer is not allowed to buy it without a prescription. The drug companies are selling to the doctors not the end user since the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

 

[dblack]

... the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

Can I quote you on that? Heh, I guess I just did.

Actually, I appreciate your candor. I don't often hear it put that way, but you're right: this kind of regulation distributes rights based on intelligence, or at least the current government's estimation of such. Interesting.

 

[Desperado]

... the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

Can I quote you on that? Heh, I guess I just did.

Actually, I appreciate your candor. I don't often hear it put that way, but you're right: this kind of regulation distributes rights based on intelligence, or at least the current government's estimation of such. Interesting.

\Actually it seems the drug companies are doing an end around by advertizing to the end user so they demand the doctor prescribe this drug to them. Since the end user never went to med school, they have no idea what they need. In fact some may not even know what exactly they are suffering from

 

[dblack]

... the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

Can I quote you on that? Heh, I guess I just did.

Actually, I appreciate your candor. I don't often hear it put that way, but you're right: this kind of regulation distributes rights based on intelligence, or at least the current government's estimation of such. Interesting.

\Actually it seems the drug companies are doing an end around by advertizing to the end user so they demand the doctor prescribe this drug to them. Since the end user never went to med school, they have no idea what they need. In fact some may not even know what exactly they are suffering from

Exactly. People aren't smart enough to take care of themselves. I hear ya.

 

[Desperado]

I stil believe if you can't buy it without a prescription it should not allowed to have over the air commercials
Sign the Petition
TV commercials for prescription drugs 'doing more harm than good'

 

[dblack]

I stil believe if you can't buy it without a prescription it should not allowed to have over the air commercials
Sign the Petition
TV commercials for prescription drugs 'doing more harm than good'

Because we know better!

 

[Cecilie1200]

Prohibit Prescription drug commercials, if you can;t buy it without a prescriptin you can't advertise it at all

How is withholding information from the actual healthcare consumers - the patients - helpful?

it is not the actual healthcare consumers who prescribe the drugs, The consumer is not allowed to buy it without a prescription. The drug companies are selling to the doctors not the end user since the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

No, the drug companies are selling to whomever is actually paying the bills, not the doctor. Think of it as though it's any other aspect of life where you have to hire a professional to do something for you that you can't do for yourself. Say, for example, that you have to have a new water heater installed. Guy comes out, looks at your house and your plumbing set-up and how many people you have living with you and whatever other pertinent circumstances there are, and says, "I recommend that you get XYZ. It's a really reliable brand, they have a great warranty, they do [fill in the blank] that will be helpful." He's prescribing the fix for your problem, but YOU are the one making the final decision, aka shelling out the cash for it. And while the water heater manufacturer is certainly making a point of contacting plumbers (or whoever) to convince them to "prescribe" their products, their primary marketing focus is on the people who are gonna cough up the dough.

Likewise, drug companies certainly make the effort to contact doctors and convince them that their meds should be prescribed, BUT their primary focus is on the people who have the ability to say, "Yes, I'll give you the money", or "Nope, not gonna pay for that". And right now, those people are NOT the people who are actually sick.

 

[Cecilie1200]

... the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

Can I quote you on that? Heh, I guess I just did.

Actually, I appreciate your candor. I don't often hear it put that way, but you're right: this kind of regulation distributes rights based on intelligence, or at least the current government's estimation of such. Interesting.

\Actually it seems the drug companies are doing an end around by advertizing to the end user so they demand the doctor prescribe this drug to them. Since the end user never went to med school, they have no idea what they need. In fact some may not even know what exactly they are suffering from

Nope, very true. I would counter that another target they have is the insurance companies, who are much less likely to decide to restrict access to payment for that medication if lots of people are on it or clamoring for it.

However, it is still an overall good thing for the actual patients, who certainly aren't reading all the latest medical journals and taking meetings with pharmaceutical reps, to get some kind of information to approach their doctor about and discuss, beyond what he gets around to telling them in the five minutes he allots from his day for their appointment.

I think you underestimate how much research many people who suffer chronic illnesses actually do about their conditions.

 

[Cecilie1200]

... the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

Can I quote you on that? Heh, I guess I just did.

Actually, I appreciate your candor. I don't often hear it put that way, but you're right: this kind of regulation distributes rights based on intelligence, or at least the current government's estimation of such. Interesting.

\Actually it seems the drug companies are doing an end around by advertizing to the end user so they demand the doctor prescribe this drug to them. Since the end user never went to med school, they have no idea what they need. In fact some may not even know what exactly they are suffering from

Exactly. People aren't smart enough to take care of themselves. I hear ya.

Well, most people don't have medical degrees, so yeah. Also, it's a very good idea to have an objective third party monitoring your use of a lot of medications.

 

[dblack]

... the end user is not intellegent enough to prescribe thier own drugs

Can I quote you on that? Heh, I guess I just did.

Actually, I appreciate your candor. I don't often hear it put that way, but you're right: this kind of regulation distributes rights based on intelligence, or at least the current government's estimation of such. Interesting.

\Actually it seems the drug companies are doing an end around by advertizing to the end user so they demand the doctor prescribe this drug to them. Since the end user never went to med school, they have no idea what they need. In fact some may not even know what exactly they are suffering from

Exactly. People aren't smart enough to take care of themselves. I hear ya.

Well, most people don't have medical degrees, so yeah. Also, it's a very good idea to have an objective third party monitoring your use of a lot of medications.

I'd agree with you that it's a good idea. But I'm not willing force my notion of a 'good' idea on other people with the law. At the end of the day, whether something is a good idea is a subjective decision - the answer will be different for every person. The "we-know-better" mentality of meddling statists is wearing thing.