Which of the following contributes most to medical inflation?

[flaminbats]

Poll question: Which of the following contributes most to medical inflation?

[Vincardog]

1. The insurance industry profits

[FrenchieCat]

2. Ironic that this number one reason.....

Insurance companies....is missing from this poll. Makes it impossible to vote, IMO.

(edited to say.....think thread starter still has time to edit the poll).

I will come back to see if it was done.

[illflem]

4. Seems like drug prices would be right up there

[FrenchieCat]

7. Righto....

on that as well.

[flaminbats]

22. overpriced medical technology...n/t

[flaminbats]

9. this happens everytime I do a poll...

great point! :dunce:

[dogman]

15. Bush's hoax de jour.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bush05.html
snip> President Bush used Downstate Madison County today to relaunch his campaign against "lawsuit abuse" he says drives doctors from this Mississippi River area and other communities around the country.
snip> MADISON COUNTY CASES

Of the 364 lawsuits filed against Madison County doctors and hospitals in the last eight years, only eight resulted in verdicts against them.

# Medical malpractice cases filed since 1996: 364
# Cases dismissed or settled out of court: 196
# Cases that went to trial: 21
# Cases won by doctors/hospitals: 13
# Cases won by patients: 8
# Average jury award: $380,000
# Largest award: $1.7 million

Sources: Verdict Reporter of St. Louis; Madison County Circuit Clerk

[0007]

17. At last!! Some goddamn sanity stats

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., called the president's plan "nothing but a shameful shield for drug companies and HMOs who hurt people through negligence." He urged the president to offer a plan that puts patients first.

On Thursday, Bush is inviting members of both parties in Congress to discuss the issue in the White House. On Friday, he plans a trip to Clinton, Mich., focused on asbestos lawsuits, which represent the longest-running mass tort litigation in U.S. history.

Bush wants a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages that compensate for pain and suffering, along with other limits.

"Lawyers are filing baseless suits against hospitals and doctors, that's just a plain fact," Bush said. "They are doing it for a simple reason-- they know the medical liability system is tilted in their favor."

junior is the biggest asswipe on the face of this planet.....and a lair also.

[Divernan]

21. asbestos lawsuits are about corporate greed; not medical malpractise

Industries using asbestos knew about the long term health impacts for decades before workers started displaying symptoms of mesothelioma - an extremely painful, drawn-out death. I'd like to see these miserable excuses for television news coverage broadcast the deathbed deposition of someone in the last stages of this disease - where every breath they draw is excruciatingly painful.

[lumpy]

24. Agree, the insurance companies

are the ones who are holding medical practitioners hostage. Unfortunatly, doctors have let insurance companies take over the financial end (and other considerations) of their profession. Malpractice suits are not the causes of this dilemma. No one has the balls to examine the practices of medical insurance companies. Doctors simply don't have the guts to stand up to protect the very integrity of their profession.

[youngred]

23. Bingo

should be listed

[tsuki]

27. My vote also.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

3. Healthcare is big business under a non-profit tax umbrella

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Large healthcare systems are BIG business. Also, insurance companies (medical malpractice and healthcare insurance) are reaping huge profits along with the drug companies.

[ewagner]

5. Try to "follow the money"

When you pay a medical bill....where does the money go?

[PA Democrat]

10. What I notice every time i go to the doctor's

is that there are more people working there to process the paperwork for the insurance companies than there are actual medical personnel.

[uppityperson]

6. Insurance companies making more money

Prime untruth believed by many is that insurance companies are there to help you. They are there to make money. Period. If they have to pay out some, they do. Some reluctantly, some very reluctantly. They are legalized gambling, betting they can keep more money than they ever have to pay out. So, they want to make money for those who have it (stockholders). Also they have many many employees who want to keep their jobs (talking upper and middle management) who clog the system to get nothing done except make more money.

[dogman]

13. Insurance company ownership might be a clue.

Some major insurers are owned by Doctors. Is it a coincidence that Doctor groups cry about the cost being caused by lawyers.

[flaminbats]

16. choice two is really a combination of two things..

aging baby boomers with more medical problems(growing demand)...and the AMA, insurance industry, and hospitals working together as gatekeepers blocking younger people who are interested in medical careers(shrinking supply).

[Ilsa]

8. You forgot insurance companies' losses in the capital markets

Their losses in the stock market cause them to seek profitability through premium increases, both on malpractice insurance premiums and consumers, I bet.

[flaminbats]

14. What about Medicare and Medicaid?

if run properly they would bring in surpluses just as Social Security does, which would be a benefit to the taxpayers. This would also increase medical inflation, but not as criminally high as the insurance companies have done. So which is better...individuals receiving healthcare based on their wealth or healthcare delivered to all based on payroll taxes collected?

[One_Life_To_Give]

11. Increased use of Questionable

Life Extending Technology.

Got your pills for your Cholesterol/High BP? Pills to correct the side effects of the first pill?

And tests! Can't use an X-Ray, needa MRI to see whats really going on. Etc.

[GreenArrow]

12. the profit motive,

in a word, Greed.

[0007]

18. ....goes hand in hand with Insurance Companies.

[GreenArrow]

20. yep,

and Pharmaceuticals. Parasites, the lot of 'em.

[htuttle]

19. Paperwork

Massive, mind-numbing paperwork.

[cattleman22]

25. All of the above plus others

1. Increased medical technology and increased use of medicine. Not only are prescriptions more expensive, but Americans are taking far more prescriptions than they did in the past. The same goes for many tests and scans.


2. Defensive medicine. Doctors are scared of being sued so they call for tests and procedures that are not necesary, but that will protect them if they are sued.


3. Insurannce company losses in the stock market. When an insurance company receives premiums, it invested them until the money is needed to be paid out. When the stock market fell, insurance companies had to raise premiums to cover those losses.

[GreenPartyVoter]

26. Don't forget higher costs of education.

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