Quote Originally Posted by Dave Byrd
It's not that anyone truly wants the government involved in health care, P4B. It's that without that involvement, there are millions of people who cannot obtain care at all and more and more among the working, insured populations who are going bankrupt as a result of our current system. This is only going to get worse.
I worked in Outside Industrial Sales for over 11 years in which I had the "pleasure" of doing business with the government. First you receive a call for quote from person "A"....this information is sent to person "B" that confirms the quote......next step is for person "C" to actually send the P.O. which consists of 1" worth of paperwork pinpointing each and every aspect of the part, P.O., conditions of the sale, etc. Because of all the beaurocracy the discount structure for Government accounts is "0".

IF either the patient, hospital, or insurance companies have to contend with this sort of system due to government involvement you will see the price of healthcare increase dramatically. This doesn't equate to fixing a system but instead adding to it's waste and passing the buck off to the U.S. taxpayer. A cost that neither the middle or lower class can, or wants to afford.

Fix the hospital system first!

The "myth" of non-profit organization:
At the end of the yearly budget if there is $5 million left over how is this "profit" used? "We need to burn the cash!" Renovations to office space with new desks, chairs, carpeting, curtains, etc. that isn't really needed but money spent in order to balance the books to protect the "myth". And like government, they get screwed on the cost based on the hoax of "hospital grade" equipment.

-Receptionists chairs that would cost $100 from Grainger are purchased from other vendors for $450 because they are "hospital grade".

-In house contractors are aware of the situation and the favored few jack the price of the projects full well knowing that the competition won't even be asked for a request for quote.

These two items are just an example of the waste. These areas didn't need to be done but the money was there and directors of the different departments all jocky for position to have their area done so it looks just a bit prettier than the others. This has nothing to do with managing waste or lowering the cost of healthcare to ALL patients.

Where could have this $5 million been used?
-In a hospital consisting of 120 beds, assuming that they are at full capacity year round, $114 could have been dropped from the room stay for each and every inhouse patient for the next fiscal year.

-The average cost of an MRI is $800 according to this information I found (gihealth.com - built for patient satisfaction). Assuming that they do 10 MRI's/day for the full 365 days in a year, this $5 million would spread $1369 to the cost/MRI. This $5 million has now covered the FULL cost of the MRI procedure for ALL patients that needed it with money left over!

Vendor Gouging
-The bed in the picture below is a lower end Hill Rom Advanta series. Nothing special....3 electric drive motor/cylinder combinations, 5 computor boards, framework, wiring harness, and a non-inflatable mattress pad. "Maybe" $5000 but do to prioritized parts so they get the replacement business this bed is actually $12,000. This also effects replacement parts due to the fact that "on shelf" components that could be bought from a basic vendor for 1/3 the cost have been modified by either a couple inches on the cylinder or by changing the motor mounts. Upper end beds go for as much as $25,000!!

-The O.R. table below is VERY basic. One gear pump motor combination that runs at 750 psi, one telescoping cylinder, 4 brake cylinders, and a few others used to adjust the head and foot sections. All this combined with a st. steel frame is worth maybe $20,000 due to the st. steel but sells to hospitals for $75,000! Once again, LOADED with prioritized parts.

This sort of waste is the equivalent of oil speculation in my book. Both of the current candidates have "talked" of an investigation into speculation and the same should be done within the hospital system. Adding government beaurocracy to a broken system isn't lowering the cost of health care or addressing the reason why costs are so high. All this plan would do is throw an invisible cloak over the problem by a system that is notorious for doing just that.

Officials at the University of Chicago Hospitals say a promotion and large pay increase given to Sen. Barack Obama's wife shortly after the Democrat was elected to Congress were well-deserved boosts for an executive who is "worth her weight in gold." The Chicago Tribune has the story.

"She's terrific," added Michael Riordan, who was president of the hospital in March 2005, when Michelle Obama was promoted to vice president for external affairs and had her annual salary increased from $121,910 to $316,962.
Hospital officials say Obama's wife deserved big raise - On Deadline - USATODAY.com

The Obama's have proven that they aren't part of the solution but actually part of the problem. With this pay increase came $millions in earmarks for this system. Benificial "change" won't happen from this candidate!

Have a good one!:s4: