Health Care Priorities

I have heard that 65% of statistics are made up on the fly; but Bill Frist, Senator from Tennessee, said he thinks 1/3 of our health care spending is due to waste and fraud.  He goes on to say that the 3 major points of healthcare reform should be:

     1)  Get the uninsured into the system;
     2)  Lower the costs of healthcare; and
     3)  Eliminate fraud and waste.







The current version of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does NOT address anything really but getting more people into the system.  He said without eliminating fraud and waste, we can’t lower the costs, which will enable more people to come into the health insurance system. Mr. Frist was all excited about smartphone apps that will allow one to shop for services and easily find the lowest cost.  His example was an MRI, which in his hometown could range from $300 to $2400 for basically the same thing. 


I, personally, am most excited about the prospects that Electronic Medical Records (EMR) might bring to the cost of “HEALTH” care.  I have already been hearing stories about individual doctors who are making wiser choices, getting better outcomes, offering better service, AND SAVING BIG BUCKS!  When we can get to a place where our society pays for results rather than procedures—WOW that will be a game changer.  Pay for HEALTH CARE rather than just medical expenses—makes sense huh?