Dick Dale has single payer and spends $3000/month to stay alive

[TreasonousBastard]

65. I'm not saying it is...

I'm saying we have to rethink our care delivery mechanism(s).

Fat chance of that, though.

Some doctors are jealous of their turfs, fighting things like midwifery. Some doctors are millionaires with specialty practices, while others are going broke. The highest-paying specialty at one point was dermatology, and general practitioners too often are those who are left over after the "good" residencies were filled. Who's going to work out how these MD's can get the best care for their patients?

The doctors' admittance criteria for hospitals might be ridiculous. I'm no expert in how a doctor is allowed to practice in a hospital, but I have seen it where a patient is admitted to a university hospital and because the doctor's and regular hospital records aren't "good enough", a complete workup had to be done, at enormous cost.

And, speaking of costs, too much has already been said about billing practices. They are horrific.

I understand that any payer, private insurance, government program, or whatever, has to guard against fraud, overbilling, and excessive treatment. But, is anyone working on standards for the costs of treatment?

Preventive medicine, education about lifestyle and other dangers... Could go on forever, and many people are...