What Ha said. There is a circular argument going on here:
*Providers feel they are entitled to specific payment levels.
*Providers have to repay the cost of equipment and education.
*Education is expensive because it always has been.
*Equipment costs need to reimburse the cost of research and development.
*Governments get involved by purchasing services through insurance carriers at below market compensation.
*Governments also dictate statistical studies which must be completed by the insurance carriers, with little/no reimbursement -- specifically for Medicare clients.
*Special interest groups cloud the picture with calls for funding for specific illnesses, or reductions in premiums for their members.
*Insurance carriers cave on the premium charges (or operate at a loss) because the size of the account helps to fund overhead, amounts to free advertising, but doesn't cover the cost of claims.
*Convoluted cost shifts occur: from public to private, from group to individual, from uninsured to insured.
So until it collapses or comes close to, there won't be much movement from the "interested" parties. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Anything like this happen recently in the US?
-- Rita (glad to be retired)
