On September 24, Dr. Bill Falzett and Larry Ozeran sought to bring all those in attendance (at room 724 in Yuba College) closer to the issue of health care without straying off topic or expounding too profusely on the above subject.
Ozeran, observing that the issue of health care is a complicated one, was able to narrow the audience’s spectrum of vision down to the matters most concerning this controversial subject. Ozeran showed the four key players within the health care transaction (namely, the employer, the patient, the insurer,and the provider) and explained how these factors are all related. The patient, maintained Ozeran, desires the best care and the provider desires to furnish the patient with the best care available. The employer and the insurer want the path to the least expenditure of funds, however.
Bill Falzett, however, broke the above pieces down to three factors (consumers, insurance companies, and providers) and pointed out that the United States is unique in that our country contains six hundred insurance companies. Falzett observed that the Soviet Union collapsed when they approached 25% of their GDP (and pointed out that we are at 18%). Ozeran later related how he received health care advice, free of charge, while in England.
“I believe that health care is a right”, stated Falzett, and Ozeran noted that rights come with responsibility. Falzett and Ozeran identified what they believed to be the fifteen problems within the context of health care. These problems are:
1) The reduction of timeliness by company delays.2) Many patients do not seek prevention.3) Patients do not envision the consequences of their actions.4) Providers only provide the best health care about 55% of the time.5) There is a limited sharing of data among providers6) Insurance policies are very variable.7) EMITALA (furnishes treatment for everyone in the case of an emergency)8) Patients have unreasonable expectations.9) Improved technology10) Tort Law (Malpractice Law)11) SGR (Sustained Growth Rate) bankrupts health care.12) Insurance companies have antitrust relief while providers do not.13) Insurance companies take too much premium for themselves.14) Insurance companies can steal from providers.15) Rising health care costs will harm the general economy.
All of these views and more are available at YubaSutterHealthcareCouncil.org Ozeran and Falzett stated their support regarding health care for everyone and encouraged all those in attendance to state the things that they want done concerning health care to congress.
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