Turning "Sickcare" into "Healthcare"
"The news plus my side of the story"
What a weekend, I came down with the flue and was not able to attend the healthcare forum here in LA. I do encourage those in the up coming cities to attend and voice your opinion. My rant machine is also running SLOW - brain just working like it normally does. I would like to thank everyone who has been sharing my "Rant" with friends. All I can say, keep it up because it is working, My subscriber ship is exploding all because you care. If you have not shared me with your friends, please do - WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
The Mythology of Health Care Reform
Rob's Rant - MIKE GETS IT - It makes my day when I read an article and someone GETS IT. Cato is right on. Cato even gets the fact that POOR LIFESTYLE choices and a disconnected consumer are the leading causes of INCREASING COST IN HEALTHCARE.
Friday, March 03, 2006
By Michael Tanner
Health care is once again moving to the top of the national political agenda. The early evidence is that this debate will be dominated by misinformation and misconceptions. Advocates of a government-run, national health-care system will do everything they can to frighten Americans and discredit consumer-directed health care. But we would be advised to look at the facts and not the scare tactics.The Claim: The U.S. spends too much on health care. FULL STORY
Nearly $1 Billion Held in Health Savings Accounts, ICDC Reports
WASHINGTON, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- In just two years, Americans have banked nearly $1 billion in tax-advantaged health savings accounts (HSAs), according to data gathered by Inside Consumer-Directed Care (ICDC) newsletter and reported in its Feb. 24 issue. The estimates are based on financial data provided by more than 60 financial firms including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and The Principal Financial Group. FULL STORY
Medical bankruptcies report challenged
Rob's Rant - Could the initial report be just another case where figures never lie but liars can always figure? The sad part is the fact that the damage has been done and reported. This new report will get no coverage so the TRUTH is irrelevant because every one has taken the first report as TRUTH.
February 28, 2006
WASHINGTON --A report that expensive illnesses lead to nearly half of all personal bankruptcies is being challenged by researchers who looked at the same data and concluded that such costs lead to fewer than one in five bankruptcies. FULL STORY
HSAs are far from a cure-all - Plans are getting big push from Bush
Rob's Rant - Hats off the Julius, as he has laid out the best evaluation I have seen from a reporter regarding the benefits of HSAs. One thing he did forget was the change in lifestyle habits. Consumers now get to benefit financially if they lead a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle will allow for accumulation of savings that can be used when the unexpected happens. The problem today, we have stacked the cards against us by the fact that we do what we want, when we want with no regard to the consequences.
By JULIUS A. KARASH
The Kansas City Star
Amy Corn of Lee’s Summit thought a health savings account would help her build a nest egg. So two years ago, at age 29 and in good health, the self-employed real estate agent began socking away tax-free savings in an HSA after choosing a high-deductible insurance plan to go with it. FULL STORY
Healthy, wealthy may get most out of health-savings accounts - For some, proposal would create 'mother of all tax shelters'
Rob's Rant - Steve Bankler is AN IDIOT and must not be able to ad. Figures never lie, but liars can always figure. I get so sick when I here the liberals say that HSAs are for the healthy and the wealthy and not for the sick and the poor. First, the poor just might not be so poor if they were given the financial benefits they have been paying for all these years. Instead their benefits have been going to a group of health Insurance companies who in turn pay out HUGE SUMS in dividends. I have shown time and time again that a DIABETICS would be better off with an HSA than a TRADITIONAL PPO. We have to rememeber the HMO now only covers 25% of the insured and PPOs the rest. What really makes me mad is the fact that Americans think diabetes can not be cured and has to be MANAGED. What a joke - the only reason we have this attitude is companies ARE MAKING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF PROFIT FROM cronic DISEASE MANAGEMENT. HSAs GO TO the heart for the problem - DEMAND. The HSA puts an incentive to GET THE FAT OFF AND STOP RELYING ON SICKCARE TO STAY ALIVE. Secondly, all critics and supporters evaluating HSA qualified high deductible plan vs a standard PPO must be done using the CashDoctor.com HSA evaluation formulas:
Premium evaluation: X (QHDP PPO Premium) + Y (HSA Savings) = Z (Traditional PPO Premium)
Annual exposure evaluation: X (HDQP premium + MAX out of pocket) + Y (Consumer Directed Healthcare benefit) = Z (Traditional PPO + MAX out of pocket)
The HSA even works for those who can not control what they eat (the the majority of diabeties is a result of what we eat) because the diabetic can use all pre-taxed dollars to support their drug habits. WARNING - We can not continue with a system that encourages reckless lifestyles. I do not care who is paying for the bill, if the consumer has no accountability, our system will crash into the ground regardless who is driving. Ted Kennedy is DEAD WRONG when he looks to Canada for solutions and should make my IDIOTS HEALTHCARE HALL OF FAME. He needs to watch dead meat and read this RANT to see what actually is going on in Canada.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Friday, March 3, 2006
WASHINGTON
President Bush's proposal to expand health-savings accounts, intended to help contain spiraling medical costs, may prove a tax-free boon for the nation's rich. FULL STORY
Cheaper health plans grow in popularity
Rob's Rant - If you do not have one, or you do not recommend them to your clients - YOU WILL SOON!
By Cristina Rodriguez
crodriguez@gannett.com
March 5, 2006
Many companies are flocking to health savings accounts, now the center of public praise and scrutiny after President Bush promoted them in his State of the Union address. FULL STORY
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060305/NEWS05/603030364/1064
Nelson protests drug policy - He says seizures of prescription drugs from Canada are a White House ploy.
Tamara Lytle
Washington Bureau Chief
March 2, 2006
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Customs policy to step up seizures of prescription drugs from Canada is raising protests in Congress and allegations from Sen. Bill Nelson that it might be a ploy by the Bush administration to force Americans into the new Medicare prescription-drug plan. FULL STORY
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/health/orl-canadadrugs0206mar02,0,1021259.story?coll=orl-health-headlines
Health plan lifts the veil on charges
List of doctor, hospital prices is most extensive available
By GUY BOULTON
gboulton@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 23, 2006
More than 44,000 people in a new health plan now have access to the most extensive information made public to date on what hospitals and doctors in the Milwaukee area charge. FULL STORY
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=403820
Hospital checkups - Patients can shop for care the way they do for cars
Rob's Rant - Cashdoctor.com was right when we set out over three years ago to get hospitals to post their prices on the internet.....
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, March 5, 2006
By BOB MOOS / The Dallas Morning News
Patients are beginning to give hospitals a checkup. Most of the nation's hospitals have started measuring the quality of their care and reporting the information to government agencies and private groups that collect it, verify it and post it on the Internet. FULL STORY
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-hospitalquality_05bus.ART.State.Edition1.3ed904b.html
Shopping List: Bread, Batteries, Health Exam ...
Rob's Rant - B.J Miller just does not get it. No one pays for full service at the gas station anymore, why in that be the case in healthcare? Americans have advocated their responsibly of maintaining their bodies and we are paying the price. Lifestyles in this country will change and it better be sooner than later. Now that Pandora's box is open, we can never close it. In store clinics are here today and will be here in the future in some form or another. Like any change, the original model may not survive, but a derivative will. Look at the banks, dry cleaners and even the starbucks that are in retail outlets. Everyone thought this would fail and some did, but many survived and are growing. CHANGE IS GOOD for consumers and bad for those make huge profits off of the old way.
BY MARILYN MUCH
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 3/3/2006
Not long ago you had two choices if you fell sick on a weekend: suffer through it, or endure the hassle and inconvenience of an emergency room. That's changing with the rise of clinics located in retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores, (WMT) Target (TGT) and CVS. (CVS) The clinics are operated in partnership with companies that run health care centers. FULL STORY
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=22&issue=200600302
The hospital price riddle
By Marion Davis
Staff Writer
Call it the $5 aspirin syndrome. For reasons that even hospital CEOs can be hard-pressed to explain, the gap between what it costs to treat a hospital patient and what shows up on the bill can be astronomical. And what hospitals are actually paid – well, that’s a whole other story. A 2004 R.I. Department of Health report shows that the actual cost behind every $1 charged by Rhode Island hospitals ranged from 95 cents at Bradley Hospital, to just under 30 cents at The Miriam Hospital (13 of the 14 institutions’ costs were under 57 cents). FULL STORY
http://www.pbn.com/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/119818
Consumer - driven crossroads: Employers grapple with the best consumer-driven path to take
Leah Carlson Shepherd & Tom Anderson
Employee Benefit News • March 2006
Last year many employers answered the question, "What is consumer-driven health care?"
For some, consumer-driven health care meant fully replacing their health benefits with high-deductible plans and health savings accounts. Others gave employees a choice between HSAs, health reimbursement arrangements and traditional health plans. Still others didn't adopt HSAs or HRAs, but kept their traditional plans and used online tools to help employees select health care providers based on price and quality. FULL STORY
http://www.benefitnews.com/detail.cfm?id=8689
Constitutional health care amendment advances in Senate
Rob' Rant - I would be scared to live in Minnesota. Politicians can not balance a check book, how would they determine what is affordable and how would they pay for a promise that has no budget. They all get it wrong because the fact that people can change their habits because of their life environment is not calculated in to the equation. Just look at the growth of OBESITY under MANAGED CARE - up 300%. With all the diets in the world, we are getting fatter and fatter by the day. FREE first dollar coverage under any system will fail. Secondly, every doctor and hospital better run for the hills because is we do not control poor lifestyle habits, then we will have to PAY LESS FOR SERVICES and ration the amount of services delivered in order to maintain a BUDGET. Otherwise, politicians could throw the budget idea out and access the taxpayers every year a variable tax associated with the cost of healthcare from the year before - NOT! I can say this - WE HAVE AN EXPANDING PROBLEM ACROSS THIS NATION AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO LOOK DOWN, IF YOU CAN NOT SEE YOUR FEET, NON THE LESS BEND OVER AND TOUCH YOUR TOES, THERE LIES THE PROBLEM.
A DFL backed proposal to amend the state constitution to include a right to affordable health care is advancing through the Senate. FULL STORY
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=119912
Lawmakers seek solutions for childhood obesity
Rob's Praise - Across the nation, communities are looking for a solution to our EXPANDING PROBLEM. All I can say is look in your REFRIGERATOR, YOUR PANTRY, AND ON YOUR DINNER TABLE and remember the old computer phrase "garbage in garbage out" our bodies are no different. The problem to day is the fact that we do not know and do not care what we put into our bodies. I praise any effort by our communities to improve the quality of our health for our children even if it means legislating our schools serve HEALTHY FOOD. Kids will eat good food when they are HUNGRY! Join my campaign to JUNK THE JUNK FOOD!
GRAND BLANC
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, March 03, 2006
By Shantell M. Kirkendoll
skirkendoll@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6366
GRAND BLANC - Being a chubby kid is no joke unless you're Fat Albert. Lawmakers will gather today at Grand Blanc High School to discuss childhood obesity and new figures showing obesity may prevent today's kids from living as long as their parents. FULL STORY
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-35/1141399230253610.xml&coll=5
prevention works like a charm in cutting costs
Health funds are exploring ways to keep members fitter, and attract them younger, writes Clara Pirani
Rob's Rant - Wow what a revelation, healthy people cost less and they live longer. Sick people can improve their health via healthcare and reduce their need for sickcare. What are they going to think of next! The problem lies in the willingness of the individual TO CHANGE.
March 04, 2006
MARGARET Black's health fund has thousands of reasons to make sure she stays healthy. Members like Black, who has Type 2 diabetes, used to cost insurance company Medibank Private $4000 per hospital visit, double the $2000 it cost for those without the condition. FULL STORY
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18337565%255E23289,00.html
Walk While You Work: Researcher
Rob's Idea - I am looking on craigslist to see if I can get one cheap in my neighborhood. I will keep you updated on my walking desk project.
By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Workers of the world, walk. Fueled by research conducted by a Mayo Clinic obesity specialist, some U.S. workers are spending their days on treadmills or indoor tracks, walking as they talk on the telephone, send e-mails and even hold meetings. FULL STORY
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/413562/walk_while_you_work_researcher/index.html#
Economists at odds over savings rates
Rob' Rant - What a disaster when we have economist that wants to declare home equity as savings. What goes up can come down, and will come down. If we mislead Americans to into thinking they have savings because the equity in their home has gone up, while wages have not, WE WILL HAVE PROBLEMS. Our society will take that as a signal to SPEND (Wall Street loves this because they wil reap more and more in profits at the expense of the average Ameican), creating more debt. Be very careful when the real estate industry tells you to buy. Then what happens to our economy if values go down.....watch out BELOW!
NEW YORK (AP) — Now that America's savings rate has been negative for an entire year, a first since the Great Depression, the question is whether we're a spendthrift nation on its way to the poor house or whether we're looking at the wrong numbers when we calculate savings. FULL STORY
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2006-03-04-americans-savings_x.htm
The Health Care Crisis and What to Do About It
Rob's Rant - I will rant on this tomorrow as I just do not have the time and energy this morning. It will take all the strenght possible to take MR KRUGMAN and put him were he belongs - IN THE GARBAGE WITH THE REST OF THE TRASH!
By Paul Krugman, Robin Wells
Thirteen years ago Bill Clinton became president partly because he promised to do something about rising health care costs. Although Clinton's chances of reforming the US health care system looked quite good at first, the effort soon ran aground. Since then a combination of factors—the unwillingness of other politicians to confront the insurance and other lobbies that so successfully frustrated the Clinton effort, a temporary remission in the growth of health care spending as HMOs briefly managed to limit cost increases, and the general distraction of a nation focused first on the gloriousness of getting rich, then on terrorism—have kept health care off the top of the agenda.
60 Minutes Exclusive This Sunday: Uninsured Middle Class Families Overcharged by Hospitals
News Magazine Segment Has Embattled Hospital Industry Abuzz
NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Embattled hospital leaders, who have been talking internally for three months about a CBS 60 Minutes news segment on hospitals that overcharge uninsured patients, will finally be able to view the segment this Sunday, March 5, 2006.
Small Firms Trim Health Coverage
Less than half of nearly 2,000 companies surveyed offer insurance -- just 48.5%, down from 53.1% in 2003.
Rob's Rant - The HSA offers small business owners the best opportunity to offer INSURANCE (MAJOR MEDICAL) than any other offering in CALIFORNIA. The sad part of the story is the fact that the insurance companies and the brokers are not sharing the news with the business owners because they make the least on the sale of the HSA qualifed insurance - LOW PREMIUMS MEAN LOW COMMISSIONS AND PROFITS. GREED is the problem.
By Jack Robinson, Times Staff Writer
March 3, 2006
Fewer than half of small businesses surveyed by a California bank provide health coverage for their workers, according to a report to be released today. For the first time in the six years Union Bank of California has conducted its informal survey of small businesses in the state, companies that offer health insurance were a minority. Just 48.5% said they provide coverage, down from 53.1% in 2003. FULL STORY
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insure3mar03,1,5556749.story?coll=la-headlines-business
Wyoming Senator To Introduce Association Health Plan Bill
March 3, 2006
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) early next week plans to introduce a bill (S 1955) that would allow association health plans to form under certain conditions, and he has scheduled a March 8 markup for the proposal, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 3/3). Like two other pending bills, Enzi's proposal would allow small businesses and trade associations to join together to offer group health coverage on a statewide or nationwide basis. FULL STORY
http://www.californiahealthline.org/index.cfm?action=dspItem&itemID=119131&changedID=119114#
Dead Meat is a 25 minute short film which shows the reality of health care under Canada's socialized medical system: Canadians wait ... and wait ... and wait. ... And sometimes they die while waiting for free government health care. CLICK TO VIEW FILM
http://www.onthefencefilms.com/video/deadmeat /
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Rob's Rant - Feb 25, 2006
Rob's Daily Health and Healthcare Newsletter - February 25, 2006
FREE RX CARD - CashDoctor now offers FREE PRESCRIPTION CARD
CLICK - PRINT - SAVE - Click here for Rx Card
Price Transparency
Rob's Note - I just have to say, CASHDOCTOR.COM was the first to promote direct pricing via the internet. All readers need to get out and start promoting our FREE SERVICE to every provider in your home town. We can make a difference
2/24/2006 12:41:00 PM
By Grace-Marie Turner
The need for price transparency is the hottest conversation right now in the world of consumer directed health care. I hear pleas for more information in my radio interviews, from people writing us through our website, and in talks around the country, most recently yesterday in Milwaukee. FULL STORY
http://www.galen.org/ccbdocs.asp?docID=871
Bush's Proposed Health Accounts Offer Tax Benefit for Wealthy
Rob's Note - Bloomberg News really dug up some idiots this time. I guess is you look under every rock you can get any one to say anything. I will start with the first IDIOT, Steven Bankler, who does not understand health insurance. He is dead wrong. I sell to doctors and auto mechanics alike. I sell to healthy and SICK. Someone with diabetes would benefit under and HSA qualified plan. Just apply my formula X + Y = Z. Next, HSAs are not ABOUT TAX DEDUCTIONS, they are about personal responsibility and the movement from a three payer system to a two payer system or the transition from SICK CARE TO HEALTH CARE. The tax deduction is just a bonus. Lastly Jason Furman is an idiot when he said ``No one needs to put away $10,000 a year and have it accumulate to hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for health care.'' just this week we see Americans are making less than they did 5 years ago and they have negative savings and HSA savings can be used as income in retirement. I am sure in his cushy job with the University he gets a guaranteed annual pay increase and retirement benefits until he dies.. MR Furman needs to get his head out of the clouds and get into the real world before he speaks for us. We need to run these jerks out of town by sun down.
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's proposal to expand health savings accounts, intended to help contain spiraling medical costs, may prove a tax-free boon for the nation's rich. FULL STORY
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a.v8quwjesw8&refer=us
Hagel forms health care commission
BY JAKE THOMPSON
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said he has pulled together 10 experts for a commission that will examine health care issues for one year, then make recommendations to him on changes that he could pursue with legislation. FULL STORY
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1642&u_sid=2122021
INCENTIVES FOR THE HEALTH CONSCIOUS
Daily Policy Digest
HEALTH ISSUES
Friday, February 24, 2006
Taking care of your body should have its own rewards. But a South African health insurance company is adding some new lures, such as discounts on travel, movie tickets and electronics, says the Wall Street Journal. FULL STORY
http://www.ncpa.org/newdpd/dpdarticle.php?article_id=2961
Does Health Cost Too Much? If you think so, stop buying so much
Ronald Bailey
Rob's Note - There are some great facts in this article, but I disagree when Mr Bailey states that demand is not driving up the cost. We must look at today CITIZEN and not the one from past centuries.
"When you've got your health, you've got everything," my mother used to say. All the evidence suggests that most Americans fervently agree with my mom, given how much they are willing to spend on health care. FULL STORY
http://www.reason.com/rb/rb022406.shtml
Health costs for state retirees to take center stage
Posted on Feb. 24, 2006 11:05 AM CST
MIAMI (Reuters)?U.S. state governments wrestling with inadequately funded pension plans are bracing for new accounting rules that will put a spotlight on the costs of massively expensive health benefits for retired workers. FULL STORY
http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=7275#
Health savings accounts are off to slow start
Rob's Note - Mr O'Neil is an idiot. He is the typical insurance executive that is driven by greed. Mr O'Neil does not understand the power of the HSA. He makes some real dumb comments. "We make them available" but we PUSH AND PROMOTE our most profitable plans. "Employees have rich benefit packages" referring to they typical Las Vegas employee where 80% use them very little (80/20 rule). If their plans are so rich, I know for a fact that not one employee would turn down a PPO with 100% of the deductible in an HSA for every employee. The major players can hold the HSA back by pricing, but competition will arrive in Las Vegas soon. NOW, Mr Harrison gets it because he is on the street working and educating the individual and employee. Hats off to Mr Harrison I would like to see you kick butts in Las Vegas..
By Michelle Swafford / Staff Writer
President Bush is touting health savings accounts as a viable solution to escalating health care premiums.
But Nevada businesses have been slow to accept them even though it can mean lower out-of-pocket costs for employers. FULL STORY
http://www.inbusinesslasvegas.com/2006/02/24/health.html
New Guide Promotes Affordable Health Insurance
Written By: HCN Staff
Published In: Health Care News
Publication Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor's note: A guide designed to help state legislators understand why health insurance premiums have been rising was released in January by the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI). The 2006 State Legislators' Guide to Health Insurance Solutions provides solutions that encourage greater access to affordable health coverage. FULL STORY
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=18596
D E A D M E A T!
is a 25 minute short film which shows the reality of health care under Canada's socialized medical system: Canadians wait ... and wait ... and wait. .... And sometimes they die while waiting for free government health care. CLICK TO VIEW FILM
http://www.onthefencefilms.com/video/deadmeat /
Refer Rob's Daily Health and Healthcare newsletter to a friend - Click to subscribe -
IT IS FREE!
Daily Newsletter Subscription
This newsletter is brought you by CashDoctor.com 3132 West Post Road Las Vegas, NV 89118
Phone 702-425-5749 Fax 800-470-1416
FREE RX CARD - CashDoctor now offers FREE PRESCRIPTION CARD
CLICK - PRINT - SAVE - Click here for Rx Card
Price Transparency
Rob's Note - I just have to say, CASHDOCTOR.COM was the first to promote direct pricing via the internet. All readers need to get out and start promoting our FREE SERVICE to every provider in your home town. We can make a difference
2/24/2006 12:41:00 PM
By Grace-Marie Turner
The need for price transparency is the hottest conversation right now in the world of consumer directed health care. I hear pleas for more information in my radio interviews, from people writing us through our website, and in talks around the country, most recently yesterday in Milwaukee. FULL STORY
http://www.galen.org/ccbdocs.asp?docID=871
Bush's Proposed Health Accounts Offer Tax Benefit for Wealthy
Rob's Note - Bloomberg News really dug up some idiots this time. I guess is you look under every rock you can get any one to say anything. I will start with the first IDIOT, Steven Bankler, who does not understand health insurance. He is dead wrong. I sell to doctors and auto mechanics alike. I sell to healthy and SICK. Someone with diabetes would benefit under and HSA qualified plan. Just apply my formula X + Y = Z. Next, HSAs are not ABOUT TAX DEDUCTIONS, they are about personal responsibility and the movement from a three payer system to a two payer system or the transition from SICK CARE TO HEALTH CARE. The tax deduction is just a bonus. Lastly Jason Furman is an idiot when he said ``No one needs to put away $10,000 a year and have it accumulate to hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for health care.'' just this week we see Americans are making less than they did 5 years ago and they have negative savings and HSA savings can be used as income in retirement. I am sure in his cushy job with the University he gets a guaranteed annual pay increase and retirement benefits until he dies.. MR Furman needs to get his head out of the clouds and get into the real world before he speaks for us. We need to run these jerks out of town by sun down.
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's proposal to expand health savings accounts, intended to help contain spiraling medical costs, may prove a tax-free boon for the nation's rich. FULL STORY
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a.v8quwjesw8&refer=us
Hagel forms health care commission
BY JAKE THOMPSON
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said he has pulled together 10 experts for a commission that will examine health care issues for one year, then make recommendations to him on changes that he could pursue with legislation. FULL STORY
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1642&u_sid=2122021
INCENTIVES FOR THE HEALTH CONSCIOUS
Daily Policy Digest
HEALTH ISSUES
Friday, February 24, 2006
Taking care of your body should have its own rewards. But a South African health insurance company is adding some new lures, such as discounts on travel, movie tickets and electronics, says the Wall Street Journal. FULL STORY
http://www.ncpa.org/newdpd/dpdarticle.php?article_id=2961
Does Health Cost Too Much? If you think so, stop buying so much
Ronald Bailey
Rob's Note - There are some great facts in this article, but I disagree when Mr Bailey states that demand is not driving up the cost. We must look at today CITIZEN and not the one from past centuries.
"When you've got your health, you've got everything," my mother used to say. All the evidence suggests that most Americans fervently agree with my mom, given how much they are willing to spend on health care. FULL STORY
http://www.reason.com/rb/rb022406.shtml
Health costs for state retirees to take center stage
Posted on Feb. 24, 2006 11:05 AM CST
MIAMI (Reuters)?U.S. state governments wrestling with inadequately funded pension plans are bracing for new accounting rules that will put a spotlight on the costs of massively expensive health benefits for retired workers. FULL STORY
http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=7275#
Health savings accounts are off to slow start
Rob's Note - Mr O'Neil is an idiot. He is the typical insurance executive that is driven by greed. Mr O'Neil does not understand the power of the HSA. He makes some real dumb comments. "We make them available" but we PUSH AND PROMOTE our most profitable plans. "Employees have rich benefit packages" referring to they typical Las Vegas employee where 80% use them very little (80/20 rule). If their plans are so rich, I know for a fact that not one employee would turn down a PPO with 100% of the deductible in an HSA for every employee. The major players can hold the HSA back by pricing, but competition will arrive in Las Vegas soon. NOW, Mr Harrison gets it because he is on the street working and educating the individual and employee. Hats off to Mr Harrison I would like to see you kick butts in Las Vegas..
By Michelle Swafford / Staff Writer
President Bush is touting health savings accounts as a viable solution to escalating health care premiums.
But Nevada businesses have been slow to accept them even though it can mean lower out-of-pocket costs for employers. FULL STORY
http://www.inbusinesslasvegas.com/2006/02/24/health.html
New Guide Promotes Affordable Health Insurance
Written By: HCN Staff
Published In: Health Care News
Publication Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: The Heartland Institute
Managing Editor's note: A guide designed to help state legislators understand why health insurance premiums have been rising was released in January by the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI). The 2006 State Legislators' Guide to Health Insurance Solutions provides solutions that encourage greater access to affordable health coverage. FULL STORY
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=18596
D E A D M E A T!
is a 25 minute short film which shows the reality of health care under Canada's socialized medical system: Canadians wait ... and wait ... and wait. .... And sometimes they die while waiting for free government health care. CLICK TO VIEW FILM
http://www.onthefencefilms.com/video/deadmeat /
Refer Rob's Daily Health and Healthcare newsletter to a friend - Click to subscribe -
IT IS FREE!
Daily Newsletter Subscription
This newsletter is brought you by CashDoctor.com 3132 West Post Road Las Vegas, NV 89118
Phone 702-425-5749 Fax 800-470-1416
Friday, February 24, 2006
Rob's Rant - Feb 24, 2006
Don’t Blame the HSA
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, any time you are getting a tax deduction to save money (in the case of the HSA for your health care expenses) it is a win, win situation.
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/2/emw350313.htm
Wal-Mart to expand health plans
By William Spain, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:28 PM ET Feb 23, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Under fire from activist groups and legislators who charge it with underinsuring its workers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it will roll out major improvements to its employee health-care benefit plans.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BCB94ACEC%2DA703%2D47F3%2D9911%2D2AD5523EB5E9%7D&siteid=google&print=true&dist=printBottom
Health plan lifts the veil on charges
Rob's Note: Great move on the part of the insurance companies, We just need to see more of it from the doctors and the healthcare professionals.
List of doctor, hospital prices is most extensive available
By GUY BOULTON
gboulton@journalsentinel.com
Feb. 23, 2006
More than 44,000 people in a new health plan now have access to the most extensive information made public to date on what hospitals and doctors in the Milwaukee area charge.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=403820
Analysis:Health to rise to 4TR
Rob's Note: Ms Pierce make a very proffetic statement at the end of her article. She clarifies that fact 4 Trillion is based on current demands and does not take into consideration and aged and demanding baby boomer population. We all must remember
this group grew up when the phrase "greed is good" was a national slogan. I give Olga extra points. What she missed was the massive expenses associated with our ever EXPANDING OBESE population. From our children to seniors, obesity will be the KILLER
OF THE SYSTEM. Good job Olga.
By OLGA PIERCE
UPI Health Business Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Slight decreases in the growth rate of healthcare spending for 2005 and 2006 will not prevent it from accounting for one fifth of GDP by 2015, federal forecasters predicted Wednesday.
http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20060222-100912-1357r
Bush's Proposed Health Accounts Offer Tax Benefit for Wealthy
Rob's Note - We started selling HSAs because they were good for all, this article just goes on to say it may get better. HSAs are good for everyone in this Country who wants to take persoanl reponsibility for their HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE. If it takes tax deductions and tax credits for AMERICANS TO GET THE FAT OFF - SO BE IT!
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's proposal to expand health savings accounts, intended to help contain spiraling medical costs, may prove a tax-free boon for the nation's rich.
Both supporters and opponents of the proposal said the enhanced HSAs offer unprecedented tax advantages and may become more attractive than 401(k)s or Individual Retirement Accounts as a way for the richest and healthiest Americans to build savings.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a.v8quwjesw8#
President's Vision for Healthcare Reform Could Define Winners and Losers Among Insurers, Financial Services Firms
Rob's Note - This article shows the challenges ahead of us if we are going to fix healthcare. We can not guarantee that HSAs will fix all. HSAs are just tools, but I can guarantee if we do nothing nothing will happen. Secondly, I can guarantee if we do not make a dramatic difference in the personal health
of every American (My Demand side theory) our system WILL FAIL NO MATTER WHAT CHANGES WE MAKE AND NO MATTER WHO PAYS FOR THE SERVICES. Demand will exceed supply!
New DiamondCluster White Paper Analyzes Challenges for Health Insurers, Opportunities for Financial Institutions
CHICAGO, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- President Bush's recent State of the Union address outlined three vital themes for the nation's healthcare that could have a significant impact on health insurers and financial services firms, cautions management consulting firm DiamondCluster International (Nasdaq: DTPI).
http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20060222-100912-1357r
High-deductible health savings plans slow to catch on locally
Joy Davia
Staff writer
(February 23, 2006) — Dave Caporale's trips to the pharmacy no longer require those $20 co-payments.
Caporale now pays with a type of credit card that takes his prescription money out of a health savings account, or HSA, that's funded by his employer, Brinkman International Group Inc.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060223/BUSINESS/602230345/1001
Aetna's secret to success? People
Aetna's stock price has been on a roll and with more room to grow, the company's new CEO sees more growth in its future.
By Shaheen Pasha, CNNMoney.com staff writer
February 22, 2006: 4:18 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Aetna's new president and chief executive, Ronald Williams, can remember a time when Wall Street wanted little to do with the troubled health insurer.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/22/news/companies/aetna_ceo/index.htm?section=money_latest
Clinic to Offer Primary Care Medical Services
to All Uninsured Patients at Medicare Rates Plus 25%
MIAMI, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major initiative to encourage health
care providers to start charging the uninsured more reasonable prices, Consejo
de Latinos Unidos, a national non-profit organization that educates and
assists the uninsured, and the Ross Integral Medical Clinic outlined the
details of a "Fair Pricing for the Uninsured" plan at a news conference today.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-22-2006/0004287258&EDATE=
Re: Employers charging smokers extra for health insurance
Rob's Note: This little blog is a great example what ALL AMERICANS will be faced with. Who's insurance is it? Does it matter what I do in my personal time? Can an employer discriminate at time of employment?
First - The insurance sponsered but the employer is PAID 100% by the employee via the employer pay less in wages to compensate for the amount paid for health insurance. The employer provides the purchasing service
because he gets a tax deduction. The insurance companie likes it because they get to set the rules to make sure the get the benefit of BIG NUMBERS. They want to make sure the 80% who do not use health insurance is there to pay
for the 20% who spend all the money. Secondly, since it is you insurance what you do in your "personal" time does matter. When we purchase car insurance do we differenciate between driving to work and driving to the beach? Americans better
wake up NOW because the healthcare industry is not going to stop with SMOKING, they are going to go after FAT PEOPLE. Fat people cost more money to maintain and Fat people are going to pay more in premiums just like reckless drivers regarding
their auto insurance. Everybody needs to stop worrying about their cars and SUV's and start worrying about their bodies.
February 22, 2006
blog
"Where is it going to end?" asked Jim Clark, a smoker and owner of Strauss Tobacconist in Cincinnati. "Are they going to start saying you can't wear a blue shirt on Monday or drive a green car on Thursday?"
http://www.harktheherald.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,/topic,7088.msg24324
How Are the Amish Lowering Health-Care Costs?
Patients Pay in Cash and Don't Sue
Feb. 23, 2006 — - The Amish of Lancaster County, Pa., don't have insurance, but they won't have to pay full price for medical expenses or travel to Tijuana, Mexico, for affordable health care anymore, either.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1652941
Neighborhood may help prevent childhood obesity
Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:25 PM GMT
By Charnicia Huggins
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The neighborhood an adolescent lives in may influence his or her development of obesity, new study findings suggest. Specifically, investigators found that adolescents from close-knit neighborhoods were less likely to be obese.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-02-23T152551Z_01_HAR355470_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-NEIGHBORHOOD-OBESITY-DC.XML
Depression, childhood obesity and eating disorders effect children
By Associated Press
Depression hard to spot in children, teens
HOUSTON — Statistics suggest that more than 10 percent of the U.S. population experiences at least one episode of depression by the time they are 24 years old. Depression can be hard to spot in children and adolescents, but addressing it early can make all the difference in preventing development, learning, and additional emotional disorders.
http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2006/02/23/life/life04.txt
February 24, 2006
U.S. to Pay Big Employers Billions Not to End Their Retiree Health Plans
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
America's largest companies expect the federal government to pay them about $4 billion over the next four years to help keep their retiree health plans alive at a time when such benefits are increasingly on the chopping block, according to a new study by Credit Suisse First Boston.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/24/business/24retire.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, any time you are getting a tax deduction to save money (in the case of the HSA for your health care expenses) it is a win, win situation.
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/2/emw350313.htm
Wal-Mart to expand health plans
By William Spain, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:28 PM ET Feb 23, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Under fire from activist groups and legislators who charge it with underinsuring its workers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it will roll out major improvements to its employee health-care benefit plans.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BCB94ACEC%2DA703%2D47F3%2D9911%2D2AD5523EB5E9%7D&siteid=google&print=true&dist=printBottom
Health plan lifts the veil on charges
Rob's Note: Great move on the part of the insurance companies, We just need to see more of it from the doctors and the healthcare professionals.
List of doctor, hospital prices is most extensive available
By GUY BOULTON
gboulton@journalsentinel.com
Feb. 23, 2006
More than 44,000 people in a new health plan now have access to the most extensive information made public to date on what hospitals and doctors in the Milwaukee area charge.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=403820
Analysis:Health to rise to 4TR
Rob's Note: Ms Pierce make a very proffetic statement at the end of her article. She clarifies that fact 4 Trillion is based on current demands and does not take into consideration and aged and demanding baby boomer population. We all must remember
this group grew up when the phrase "greed is good" was a national slogan. I give Olga extra points. What she missed was the massive expenses associated with our ever EXPANDING OBESE population. From our children to seniors, obesity will be the KILLER
OF THE SYSTEM. Good job Olga.
By OLGA PIERCE
UPI Health Business Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Slight decreases in the growth rate of healthcare spending for 2005 and 2006 will not prevent it from accounting for one fifth of GDP by 2015, federal forecasters predicted Wednesday.
http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20060222-100912-1357r
Bush's Proposed Health Accounts Offer Tax Benefit for Wealthy
Rob's Note - We started selling HSAs because they were good for all, this article just goes on to say it may get better. HSAs are good for everyone in this Country who wants to take persoanl reponsibility for their HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE. If it takes tax deductions and tax credits for AMERICANS TO GET THE FAT OFF - SO BE IT!
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's proposal to expand health savings accounts, intended to help contain spiraling medical costs, may prove a tax-free boon for the nation's rich.
Both supporters and opponents of the proposal said the enhanced HSAs offer unprecedented tax advantages and may become more attractive than 401(k)s or Individual Retirement Accounts as a way for the richest and healthiest Americans to build savings.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a.v8quwjesw8#
President's Vision for Healthcare Reform Could Define Winners and Losers Among Insurers, Financial Services Firms
Rob's Note - This article shows the challenges ahead of us if we are going to fix healthcare. We can not guarantee that HSAs will fix all. HSAs are just tools, but I can guarantee if we do nothing nothing will happen. Secondly, I can guarantee if we do not make a dramatic difference in the personal health
of every American (My Demand side theory) our system WILL FAIL NO MATTER WHAT CHANGES WE MAKE AND NO MATTER WHO PAYS FOR THE SERVICES. Demand will exceed supply!
New DiamondCluster White Paper Analyzes Challenges for Health Insurers, Opportunities for Financial Institutions
CHICAGO, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- President Bush's recent State of the Union address outlined three vital themes for the nation's healthcare that could have a significant impact on health insurers and financial services firms, cautions management consulting firm DiamondCluster International (Nasdaq: DTPI).
http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20060222-100912-1357r
High-deductible health savings plans slow to catch on locally
Joy Davia
Staff writer
(February 23, 2006) — Dave Caporale's trips to the pharmacy no longer require those $20 co-payments.
Caporale now pays with a type of credit card that takes his prescription money out of a health savings account, or HSA, that's funded by his employer, Brinkman International Group Inc.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060223/BUSINESS/602230345/1001
Aetna's secret to success? People
Aetna's stock price has been on a roll and with more room to grow, the company's new CEO sees more growth in its future.
By Shaheen Pasha, CNNMoney.com staff writer
February 22, 2006: 4:18 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Aetna's new president and chief executive, Ronald Williams, can remember a time when Wall Street wanted little to do with the troubled health insurer.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/22/news/companies/aetna_ceo/index.htm?section=money_latest
Clinic to Offer Primary Care Medical Services
to All Uninsured Patients at Medicare Rates Plus 25%
MIAMI, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major initiative to encourage health
care providers to start charging the uninsured more reasonable prices, Consejo
de Latinos Unidos, a national non-profit organization that educates and
assists the uninsured, and the Ross Integral Medical Clinic outlined the
details of a "Fair Pricing for the Uninsured" plan at a news conference today.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-22-2006/0004287258&EDATE=
Re: Employers charging smokers extra for health insurance
Rob's Note: This little blog is a great example what ALL AMERICANS will be faced with. Who's insurance is it? Does it matter what I do in my personal time? Can an employer discriminate at time of employment?
First - The insurance sponsered but the employer is PAID 100% by the employee via the employer pay less in wages to compensate for the amount paid for health insurance. The employer provides the purchasing service
because he gets a tax deduction. The insurance companie likes it because they get to set the rules to make sure the get the benefit of BIG NUMBERS. They want to make sure the 80% who do not use health insurance is there to pay
for the 20% who spend all the money. Secondly, since it is you insurance what you do in your "personal" time does matter. When we purchase car insurance do we differenciate between driving to work and driving to the beach? Americans better
wake up NOW because the healthcare industry is not going to stop with SMOKING, they are going to go after FAT PEOPLE. Fat people cost more money to maintain and Fat people are going to pay more in premiums just like reckless drivers regarding
their auto insurance. Everybody needs to stop worrying about their cars and SUV's and start worrying about their bodies.
February 22, 2006
blog
"Where is it going to end?" asked Jim Clark, a smoker and owner of Strauss Tobacconist in Cincinnati. "Are they going to start saying you can't wear a blue shirt on Monday or drive a green car on Thursday?"
http://www.harktheherald.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,/topic,7088.msg24324
How Are the Amish Lowering Health-Care Costs?
Patients Pay in Cash and Don't Sue
Feb. 23, 2006 — - The Amish of Lancaster County, Pa., don't have insurance, but they won't have to pay full price for medical expenses or travel to Tijuana, Mexico, for affordable health care anymore, either.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1652941
Neighborhood may help prevent childhood obesity
Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:25 PM GMT
By Charnicia Huggins
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The neighborhood an adolescent lives in may influence his or her development of obesity, new study findings suggest. Specifically, investigators found that adolescents from close-knit neighborhoods were less likely to be obese.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-02-23T152551Z_01_HAR355470_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-NEIGHBORHOOD-OBESITY-DC.XML
Depression, childhood obesity and eating disorders effect children
By Associated Press
Depression hard to spot in children, teens
HOUSTON — Statistics suggest that more than 10 percent of the U.S. population experiences at least one episode of depression by the time they are 24 years old. Depression can be hard to spot in children and adolescents, but addressing it early can make all the difference in preventing development, learning, and additional emotional disorders.
http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2006/02/23/life/life04.txt
February 24, 2006
U.S. to Pay Big Employers Billions Not to End Their Retiree Health Plans
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
America's largest companies expect the federal government to pay them about $4 billion over the next four years to help keep their retiree health plans alive at a time when such benefits are increasingly on the chopping block, according to a new study by Credit Suisse First Boston.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/24/business/24retire.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Monday, February 20, 2006
The kitchen keeps getting hotter and hotter
The kitchen keeps getting hotter and hotter. Everyday someone new comes out with their opinion why HSAs will not work, and today is no different. In todays lead article, Dr James Mongan is DEAD WRONG when he says "The president's prescription for our ailing health care system is, astoundingly, to encourage the further deterioration of private insurance coverage for those in the middle class who have become increasingly worried about holding onto their current policies.
The dilemma we have has two problems: One is the fact that it is not the employees policy, it is the policy of the employer sponsored plan and will have to be surrendered if the employee leaves or is asked to leave. Second problem is the fact that employees have no clue as to the cost of the insurance and the cost of any care delivered by the plan. CONSUMER IGNORANCE is leading to RECORD PROFITS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES, RECORD PROFITS FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, RECORD PROFITS FOR DRUG COMPANIES, RECORD HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS, A RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO ARE OBESE AND A RECORD NUMBER OF DEATHS ATTRIBUTED TO POOR LIFE STYLE CHOICES; SMOKING AND OBESITY. Now with all that said, how can a system repair itself WHEN the profits of Wall Street are tied to our failing health
ALL healthcare plans cost large sums of money and are all paid for by every American regardless. Employer plans are paid for 100% by the employee. Tax payers pay for all Medicaid and Medicare plans. Regardless of who controls the supply all methods of delivery are expensive. The problem we are now faced with is the fact that demand is exceeding supply. Demand must be reduced in order for our system to remain intact. Americans are FAT (66% are overweight) and DUMB when it comes to health care cost, and not until these conditions are cured will our healthcare system survive. We have a lot of work to do in a very short period of TIME
Dr Mongan needs to understand the the middle class is PAYING THE WHOLE BILL when it comes to healthcare premiums via their employer. To get the true picture Dr Mongan must apply the CashDoctor.com HSA formula, X+Y = Z (X=Major Medical, Y=HSA contribution, Z=Current Plan). The formula does not take into consideration the percentage paid by the employer or the employee because this is irrelevant to the cost associated with healthcare. The purpose is to SEE THE WHOLE COST.
Dr Mongan needs to stop protecting a failing system and start making a difference. FIRST he should move immediately to TRANSPARENT PRICING - POST ALL PRICES ON THE INTERNET NOW! As a leader, he should lead and not wait until the government steps in and requires, by law, the posting of actual fee schedules. Secondly he should pursue healthcare plans that CONNECT PATIENTS DIRECTLY WITH HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. Dr Mongan and his organization should start leading TODAY!
The dilemma we have has two problems: One is the fact that it is not the employees policy, it is the policy of the employer sponsored plan and will have to be surrendered if the employee leaves or is asked to leave. Second problem is the fact that employees have no clue as to the cost of the insurance and the cost of any care delivered by the plan. CONSUMER IGNORANCE is leading to RECORD PROFITS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES, RECORD PROFITS FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, RECORD PROFITS FOR DRUG COMPANIES, RECORD HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS, A RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO ARE OBESE AND A RECORD NUMBER OF DEATHS ATTRIBUTED TO POOR LIFE STYLE CHOICES; SMOKING AND OBESITY. Now with all that said, how can a system repair itself WHEN the profits of Wall Street are tied to our failing health
ALL healthcare plans cost large sums of money and are all paid for by every American regardless. Employer plans are paid for 100% by the employee. Tax payers pay for all Medicaid and Medicare plans. Regardless of who controls the supply all methods of delivery are expensive. The problem we are now faced with is the fact that demand is exceeding supply. Demand must be reduced in order for our system to remain intact. Americans are FAT (66% are overweight) and DUMB when it comes to health care cost, and not until these conditions are cured will our healthcare system survive. We have a lot of work to do in a very short period of TIME
Dr Mongan needs to understand the the middle class is PAYING THE WHOLE BILL when it comes to healthcare premiums via their employer. To get the true picture Dr Mongan must apply the CashDoctor.com HSA formula, X+Y = Z (X=Major Medical, Y=HSA contribution, Z=Current Plan). The formula does not take into consideration the percentage paid by the employer or the employee because this is irrelevant to the cost associated with healthcare. The purpose is to SEE THE WHOLE COST.
Dr Mongan needs to stop protecting a failing system and start making a difference. FIRST he should move immediately to TRANSPARENT PRICING - POST ALL PRICES ON THE INTERNET NOW! As a leader, he should lead and not wait until the government steps in and requires, by law, the posting of actual fee schedules. Secondly he should pursue healthcare plans that CONNECT PATIENTS DIRECTLY WITH HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. Dr Mongan and his organization should start leading TODAY!
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