Making Health Care Affordable, T.S. Khanna, December 9, 2013

Foundation for Better Government

(www.bettergovt.blogspot.com)

December 9, 2013.

Making Health Care Affordable.

By T.S. Khanna, December 9, 2013.

Current year’s expenditure on Health Care in the U.S. is estimated at $ 2.8 trillion, including $ 800 billion on Medicare and Medicaid.  The expenditure has been rising faster than inflation and is a contributing cause of growing federal deficit.  It is not sustainable.   Yet, it is not easily correctable, considering the Health-Care Industry spends on Washington lobby more than the Defense-Aerospace and Oil-Gas industries combined.

In an effort to reduce the cost to affordable level for greater number of people, it is recommended:

1. Establish Out-patient Clinics at the facilities of Religious Institutions;
2. Provide immunity to doctors from law suits to reduce their business expense and the cost to patients by avoiding unnecessary lab-tests needed for law suits only;
3. In exchange for the immunity, require doctors to devote a free 8-hr. service per week at the clinics proposed above;
4. Establish a Fair Profit Commission to enforce competitive fair profits as opposed to the current practice of aggressive, unfair profits from captive patients with debilitating diseases.  For example, a charge of $ 7.00/ cotton-swab or $ 12.00 per tablet of Tylenol.
5. Establish a fair Wages Commission to regulate wages for the nurses.  Unions, with their right to strike, eliminate the competition and highjack the economy of the entire organization.

The Constitutionalists may be reminded that the life-line of laissez faire or free enterprise is open competition.   The Unions have eliminated competition in wages and quiet collusion of corporations have eliminated the competition in profit.  Entire U.S. economy is suffering on that account.