NYT/Reuters: Wal-Mart Offers to Help Fix (national) Health Care

[DeepModem Mom]

Wal-Mart Offers to Help Fix Health Care
By REUTERS
Published: April 18, 2006

ROGERS, Arkansas (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., at the center of debate over corporate responsibility for health care, said on Tuesday that it wants to use its cost-cutting expertise to help make the U.S. health care system more efficient....

***

Wal-Mart said health care is a national problem and required a joint effort from government, corporations and workers to find ways to make the system more efficient.

The retailer said the key is to figure out what is driving up health care costs -- just as Wal-Mart does with its vaunted supply chain network -- and then wring inefficiencies out of the system....

***

The retailer offered up its information technology expertise to help develop a system for keeping electronic medical records as another means of reducing costs.

Wal-Mart also said that lessons could be learned from health clinics it is opening in dozens of stores around the country, many of which serve uninsured patients who would otherwise go to the emergency room -- a major drain on health care resources....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-retail-walmart-health.html

[Sub Atomic]

1. More efficient?

Cut off 50% of the administrative overhead.

Problem solved.

[bullimiami]

2. Import millions of cheap chinese doctors

and set up practices in the stores, with 'rock bottom' prices?

[file83]

8. LOL - that's probably not far from the truth.

[Pithy Cherub]

3. Did Wal*Mart execs stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

:yoiks:

[H3Dakota]

28. Good one!

:rofl:

[MichiganVote]

4. Don't look now. Walmart wrings employees out....

Are they efficient? As a matter of fact they are. And that's all they are.

I can't be sure but the last time I looked, medical care involves..um...compassion?

[nolabels]

33. and a lot more than that.........

But also mostly none of that stuff you can bottle up and place on a shelf. Wallmart has zero credibility with this issue but they will still try to use their lame marketing resources to try to sell it.

[lovuian]

5. Hey if they are part of Universal Health

I'm for it!!!

[Dulcinea]

34. I'd like to see what happens with this.

There will be no changes in the health care system until & unless corporate America demands it. Let's face it, they're tired of paying for health insurance & probably wouldn't mind foisting it off on the federal government.

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. Wal-Mart?

If they are serious, why don't they figure out how to give their own damn workers health coverage? My BS meter is off the charts!

[file83]

7. Part of their "cost cutting expertise" is NOT providing healthcare!!

These people are fucking insane.

[killbotfactory]

9. This might be an interesting fight

Wal-Mart vs. Insurance and Drug companies. Which powerful lobbyist group will win?

[loudsue]

24. That's exactly what I thought when I read the orig. post. Man! What a

fight that would be!!! Just watch the insurance companies and drug companies and the whole medical care field suddenly turn against wally-world!

:popcorn: THAT would be one interesting little soap opera.

My guess is, all Sam Walton's slimey spawns will have lunch with all the drug and insurance slimey bastards, and they'll figure it's not a good idea after all. Either that, or Sam's kids are going to wake up with a horse's head in their bed.

:kick::kick::kick:

[movonne]

10. Is bush going to put wal-mart the head of the dept. of health care?

[brer cat]

11. Well, isn't this special!

Wal-mart doesn't mind having medicaid pick up the tab for its underpaid and uninsured workers...and THEY are going to solve the problem?? How, by demanding that people no longer get sick, or purchase their own insurance if they want medical care, or maybe by sending us to China for cut-rate care? Grrrrr.

[Eugene]

12. This is the third positive news story about Wal-Mart since Friday.

First they offer to make it easier for employees to get health insurance.
Next, they promise to stop crushing rival small businesses. And now this.
What will they promise tomorrow? Better treatment of women employees?

Gee, they're really laying on thick. As for national health care,
I worry that Wal-Mart is trying to codify their shifting of worker
costs to the public sector instead of really trying to fix the problem.
At the very least, they are trying to short circuit real reforms
such as legislation proposed in Maryland.

[Ecumenist]

13. Yeah, I bet... Just like you fix

established independent retailers, just like you fixed things for the under employed, etc..

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. You guys are missing a big aspect of this:

IT. What control and access would Walmart have to YOUR medical records, if this floats?

That info is money in the bank to whomever has access to it.

[Binka]

20. They Flat Out Admit It....This Is The Gold

"The retailer offered up its information technology expertise to help develop a system for keeping electronic medical records as another means of reducing costs."

Lovely. I smell camps just around the corner.

[sidpleasant]

29. Wal Mart 's arrogance knows no boundaries

"The retailer offered up its information technology expertise to help develop a system for keeping electronic medical records as another means of reducing costs." Wow, what a great idea - all those dummies who run hospitals never thought of keeping medical records electronically. What massively ignorant arrogant assholes.

Lots of hospitals already have completely electronic records systems with doctors using notebook computers instead of clipboards and paper forms. Heathcare IT is a booming industry with big players such as GE and Siemens. They don't need to be schooled by Wal Mart.

[saltpoint]

15. Wal-Mart's executive team would be among the very last people on

earth I'd want in charge of health care.

If they won't pay their own employees' health care, why should anybody else trust them with any more?

[Booster]

16. Is this a joke cause it's damn laughable. Walmart is just as

ignorant and arrogant as the dimson. Well, you could probably take ignorant out of their description since they've been ripping off the tax payers for eons now.

[cpamomfromtexas]

38. What do you expect, they're Rethuglicans?

[justice1]

17. I would be willing to listen to their ideas.

Is anyone familiar with the quality of the coverage, and the premiums paid by employees? I would like to know a little more about that.

[OneBlueSky]

18. sure, it's easy . . . just don't cover anyone . . . costs saved! . . . n/t

.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. From what I've seen with Walmart employees, that's pretty much the size of

it.

[salin]

23. Throw in some Bushian rules that try to prevent people

from seeking care (aka preventitive or early diagnoses) because, according to the bushco, the whole problem is that people just use too much health care.

In sum: just don't cover people with any health risks, and prevent those who are covered from getting much care at all.

[Zorra]

21. Wal-Mart cost cutting expertise means screwing workers to the

maximum limit allowed by law.

And then some.

[JCMach1]

22. Capitalism and Modern Healthcare DO NOT Mix

It's time to get over the belief that it can.

[loudsue]

25. I'm starting to believe that Capitalism doesn't mix with much of

anything that is worth caring about. I'm ready for a new paradigm for politics in general.

:kick:

[Solon]

26. That's one thing that is aggrivating when debating the Free Marketeers...

Capitalism is good for making widgets and other crap we DON'T need, Socialism is good for making shit we ABSOLUTELY need along with vital services, like health care, water, and electricity(nowadays). So, there you go, simple freakin formula, but its like talking to a wall half the time. Just because governments suck at making VCRs doesn't mean they suck at delivering quality medical care, apples and oranges. Besides, the reverse is true as well.

[JCMach1]

27. Why doesn't it work: with healthcare there is NO CHOICE

Therefore, no MARKET.

How can you have competition when you are lying on te emergency room table?

[depakid]

30. Minimum wages for nurses!

It's hard to believe the Times would even print this. That piece was NOTHING other than advertising and PR for Walmart.

I guess they figure the Post is getting too far ahead in the race to the bottom.

Where is the bottom, anyway?

[warrens]

31. I know it's easy to slam them

But this might be exactly what is needed. As evil as Wal-Mart can be, they are geniuses at finding waste. The problem comes in the definition of waste; once they find the low-hanging fruit, waste tends to become your employees' pay and benefits or the quality of your raw materials.

But I wouldn't mind seeing them take a crack at this. My contention has always been that a national system would be more cost-effective. It could organize things like routine tests so that the labs aren't manned when not needed, etc. And the MAJOR savings would be protecting doctors in the sense of making them secure enough to not over-test patients just to cover their ass.

[CBHagman]

32. Well, it is a national problem, but here are the questions.

1. Today there's a news story about pharmaceutical companies fighting against the release of generic drugs following the expiration of patents for commonly prescribed (and expensive) medications. Who will fight back? Some in Congress are, but the Bush adminstration sure as hell isn't. We know that much of the problem is that corporations have more clout than the consumers. But high drug prices are part of the problem.

2. America spends more per person on health care than other industrialized nations do, yet they cover everyone and we do not. How do we spread cost and cover everyone?

3. How do we spread risk and cover everyone?

4. Obviously much of what we pay for consists of administrative costs to insurance companies that hold the clout in this country. Obviously this is a problem that must be dealt with, yet we also have to look at the huge number of people employed by insurance companies. Where do we go from here?

I would much prefer a single-payer system, but obviously that gets fought tooth and nail by companies and organizations who can afford to fight and have the political allies to defeat most reforms. Where do we go from here?

[Mountainman]

35. I am a controller for a medical clinic, heres some breakdown of income

Combined, insurance companies, Medicare and Medical pay about 56% of what is billed. If a procedure is billed at $1000, the clinic will get about $560. From that the doctors get about 39% or $218 leaving $341 to cover drugs and medication, supplies, nurses, PA's and MA's, overhead and administration. There are many times when the costs are not covered by the reimbursement. The costs of administration is high because of the way insurance companies are billed. You need certified coders to do the billing then you have to appeal the denials of the reimbursement.

If you had a single payer system with a fair managed care system, the insurance companies costs would go away. Simplify administration procedures, lower costs of drugs and medications. Pay physicians and medical staff a fair salary and cost of health care would go down.

The problem is the insurance companies and drug companies would not make the money they do now. That is why we don't have a good health care system IMHO.

[depakid]

39. Cut the parasites out of the system

How much do we spend on people whose sole purpose is to deny people access or care? Or to market plans? or to cherry pick?

Cut the people out of the system who don't "produce healthcare," and clinics like yours can get more consistent and reliable reimbursement- and if the DRG's aren't adequate, then that'll show up quick & easy- and won't be muddled with all other mess of third party payers, co-insurance to collect- or write off- or deal with as charity care.

Injecting the likes of Walmart into the current dysfunctional and fragmented system is about the biggest nightmare I can imagine- such savings as there are sure as hell won't "trickle down" to patients and providers....

[WhiteTara]

36. those pesky sick people are driving up the cost

so let's just eliminate them and we'll all make a profit! Christ on a pogo stick, these people are just horrible!

[Norquist Nemesis]

37. Get ready for Wal-Insur!

That will be the solution...Wal-Mart breaks into the insurance business.