The Problems Facing/Caused By Providers

So there are many opinions being tossed around regarding what is the problem with health care, and how one of the biggest problems is the ballooning cost of such.  Many people looking at the rising bills being faced by patients as being unreasonable, and rail against hospitals and physicians for requiring such huge charges.  However, I have heard absolutely no one state any kind of thought as to why patients are facing such charges.

As I said in my "Preface to the Rants", health care is a business.  In fact, everything is a business to a degree.  Men or women of the cloth must satisfy the spiritual needs of his or her congregation (customers) in order for that congregation to choose to attend and offer one's monetary contributions to his or her church (shop his or her business).  If that preacher fails to satisfy the needs of her or his customers, then the church will falter, the congregation will choose to worship elsewhere, and eventually the church will have to shut its doors.

This may be disgusting for you all to consider, but is it not the reality of the world?  Nobody can exist without an income of some kind, be it from the charitable contributions of a church congregation or from the payments of a patient who found healing in the hands of a skilled cardiothoracic surgeon.  A skilled surgeon must spend years upon years within the medical school system, internships, residencies, and fellowships before being able to competently ply her or his craft, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.  Somehow that surgeon needs to be reimbursed, else there will never be any individuals willing to take on the profession.

Physicians deserve to earn the compensation each receives.  If it were cheaper/easier to become a doctor or too difficult to recover after having gone through it, we would have a spectacular shortage of medical providers until those factors evened out the situation (similar to the way in which supply, demand, and cost all sort itself out within an economic model).

Preface to the Rants

I work as an analyst within a large health care provider in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

There, let that be the forewarning to my rants. I work on the provider side of the health care industry, which may make me a bit jaded towards the insurance payers. However I feel I can identify flaws in both the physicians and those who "administrate the bills."

Yes, the quotations are highly necessary, as I have seen many times that insurance companies cannot claim to "pay the bills" because that is not the case 100% of the time. In fact, with the amount of plans being offered that include deductibles, coinsurances, and high copays... I'd go so far as to state that it may be only 50% of the time. However, that would be how those companies even exist.

Everyone is worked up over health care due to the ramifications of the business. But it is a business, and will remain being a business until the whole of the industry is administrated by non-profit organizations and the government.

Yes, this is inflammatory, since the "public option" is such a terrifying prospect to so many conservatives and moderate liberals alike. I very much liken myself to being a moderate liberal, however I approach every situation with logic. I dislike rhetoric, and I detest those whom use Fox News as the sole source of information on a given topic. I detest Fox News in general, to be honest. However, I fear only reading CNN and MSNBC, since I shudder at the thought that I may become an unthinking peon in the opposite regard. However, my observations and thoughts on the industry have led me to believe a public option is not the harbinger of doom so many state. However I would not want such to be the only option. :)

So if you have not yet noticed such, I am a contradiction in terms; a liberal who wishes the death penalty were adopted nationwide, and any individuals found to be a genetic match to evidence collected in rapes be physically (not chemically) castrated, without anesthetic, or summarily executed if the victim is under the age of 18. I detest affirmative action, but accept the fact there are situations in which it is wholly necessary. I am a male who detests the good old boy clubs, but is sick of working in offices dominated by women, although would turn in a resignation if my female boss were to be terminated tomorrow (such is my respect for her).

So in the end, I am highly pensive, constantly pondering the possibilities of a situation, however passionate when I believe I have come to a solid conclusion. However, if one were to show me a flaw to my logic or train of thought, I can easily turn on a dime and abandon my position. Do not take such to mean I am weak spined or in a weak position, because it is merely a product of my desire to find the best path possible, rather than one supporting party ideals or opposing the ideas of those I hate.

Oh, and this blog will remain plain. It takes enough time for me to actually type my ideas, let alone attempting to wade through HTML code and gussy up the place.