Health Care Madness

On December 24, 2011, XMAS eve, we heard that more than 200 employees at 2 bankrupt Hawaiian hospitals learned they lost their jobs. On March 2, 2012 we heard a California (CA) doctor was charged with murdering 3 patients by over prescribing drugs and a Sacramento, CA Mercy General Hospital physician’s assistant won a $168 million sexual harassment suit because doctors called her stupid, stabbed her with needles and routinely slapped her.

On March 1 it was estimated that $60 billion a year is bilked from Medicare because of fraud and Texas is the hotbed; this came right after we heard on February 29 that a Texas doctor was charged with a $375 million Medicare fraud scheme. March 13 we were told 50 million Americans lack health insurance. March 24 thousands across the country protested the mandatory insurance coverage of birth control. April 10 we’re told the President’s Health Care Law is estimated to add $340 billion to the deficit. April 24 we heard Social Security and Medicare is expected to run out of funds by 2033, 3 years earlier than expected. Also on April 24 we heard that 16 million children are on Medicaid and get no dental care; a boy died of a dental infection that got into his brain because no dentist would take him; Florida is the worst state; Medicaid won’t pay dentists what they want so they just don’t take them; Health & Human Services (H&HS) saids the situation is getting better – 40% of the kids on Medicaid are now getting dental care. May 2 there was a Medicare bust of 107 doctors, nurses, and social workers in Tampa and Miami, Florida, Houston, Texas, Detroit, Michigan, Baton Rouge, Louisiana ($225 million), Los Angeles, CA and Chicago, Illinois; these individuals were charged with fraud that scammed taxpayers out of $452 million (this doesn’t include the previously noted frauds or scams).

On April Dr. Atul Gawande reported that he compared 2 hospitals in Texas with similar patients and found that those without so many tests being conducted did as well as those that had tests. Consumer Reports gathered doctors from 9 medical specialties and found there are 45 tests that are done too often, some of them are - EKGs to measure heart rhythm, pap smears to check for cervical cancer and chest x-rays before surgery. ABC’s Dr. Besser said the study should remind doctors of the cardinal rule – first do no harm; Besser suggests asking – what is the test for- what are you going to do with the information – is there another way to get the information; he said doctors often order tests so they don’t have to spend much time with the patient and if you’re not getting 15 minutes of the doctor’s time, you’re not getting enough. All 45 tests are on abc.com.

On February 1 were we told that there are more indoor tanning salons in America than there are Starbucks; the World Health Organization said that indoor tanning is just as bad as inhaling asbestos, swallowing arsenic and smoking. In America Melanoma is the leading killer of women in their 20s, deadlier than lung cancer; nearly 2 years ago the FDA, pediatricians and dermatologists recommended banning tanning for minors but the tanning lobbyist spent nearly $460,000 in the past 2 years defending the industry’s health claims and the FDA hasn’t taken any action. April 12 we heard that Gel manicures are now popular because they’re suppose to last longer; 4 coats of polish is put on and a UVA light is used to dry each layer; the industry said the strength of the UV is less than with tanning and if you got the manicure every 2 weeks it’s equal to 2 minutes of sun every day – this didn’t explain why hands are aging faster; in the mean time - more study is necessary to find out if skin cancer can result but dermatologists suggest that sunscreen be worn on your hands if you get the manicure. May 16 we were informed that there are 2 million skin cancers diagnosed each year in the US-one in 5 will get it in their lifetime.

Okay, let’s look at this situation. The health care law is to add $340 billion to the deficit but we have rampant Medicare fraud bilking $60 billion, doctors over prescribing drugs (January 12 blog), and unnecessary tests (value unknown). In searching the internet I found millions of dollars of Medicaid fraud in every state so I’ll assume it’s as bad as Medicare fraud. Eliminating fraud alone would reduce costs by about $120 billion. The insurance companies said birth control is cheaper than child births (2/13 blog – Catholics v Government), my February 27 – 29 blogs talked about why our medical costs more and ways to fix our system, and my May 3 blog identified that fake pharmacies are driving up drug costs.

It was said 50 million Americans do not have health insurance and I don’t understand why people are able to get elective plastic surgery while others can’t have heart surgery or assistance for a disabled child even if they have insurance (it must be that pre-existing condition loop hole I heard about that will be taken care of with the health care law). Lives are at risk and we need to change the system and our ways (get rid of a tanning industry that causes increases in health costs, eat better, exercise and check your vanity at the door). I believe that if we fix what is broken the health care law will pay for itself and get all Americans insured. If more money is needed then an increase in taxes on the rich should take care of it.