Convergence of Relevant Stuff

Dr. Robert Levine author of the new book  “Shock Therapy” addressed the problem of rising health care costs. He advocates overhauling the entire system. Health care cost  has increased by 8.9% per year. About 3.9% of inflation and this issue is not addressed in the health care legislation passed in congress and the senate version that is up for vote.  Over $500 million  goes to administrative costs in health care each year. Couple that with unnecessary  surgery which is a chronic and systemic problem, it is estimated that about 500,000 out of  one million cases involved unnecessary surgery.  Doctors are also ordering unnecessary test, because of the huge number of malpractice test.

According to Dr. Levine, there are three main drivers that ramp up the cost of health care .  Unnecessary surgeries, the more operations doctors perform , the more they get paid.  Doctors are afraid of law suits so they order unnecessary test.  Doctors  and patients have no access to test, so doctors  may inadvertently order the same test. All of these instances cause a tremendous rise in  cost.   These alternatives are not addressed in any of the  bills, house or senate.

In order  to eliminate this problem there must be a single payer system.  This is needed in order to understand that it is not the government that is the problem, it is the insurance companies that are already between the patient and the doctor. Insurance companies know everything there is to know about you. You cannot hide this information from them. So if you worry about big brother, he already is on the prowl and it is the insurance company.  Just ask any insurance agent, if they are honest they will tell you.  It does not matter what you withhold on the insurance application underwriters will find out.  If you lie, you will lose  when you file your claim.

Dr. Levine’s  fix is  to  have an administrative agencies oversee medical administration, put doctors on salary and put everyone on a single payer system.  This approach makes total sense.

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Tom Dashle went to Dubin, Indiana to meet with concerned citizen who had no health care. This was one of the first meeting that Daschle will have that listened to many of the concerns that people have regarding the biggest issue that faces America; Health Care. Daschle went to a Senior Wellness Center, located southeast of Washington, DC . The Seniors mentioned a need for better nutrition.

There are many over the counter drug that some say Doctors will not take themselves.  Here’s a list of the culprits;

Advair- It an asthma, that in effect is said to increase the risk of an asthma attack. Let me get this straight an asthma medicine that is said to increase the risk of an asthma attack?  Definitely time for a reassessment.

Avandia- I know about this one because I am a diabetic. It is supposed to function as a helper to  produce more workable insulin in your body.  I took it for about two years, before  reports started surfacing that people who were on Avandia were having heart attacks. In addition I seemed to be gaining a lot of weight while on the medication, which is not good. So I asked my doctor to take me off of Avandia and prescribed something less lethal.  My Doctor prescribed Januvia, which does not work on the organs, but is effective in helping to control insulin levels.

Celebrex- This drug is known as a pain reliever and some say super aspirin. But it has been reported that it can cause stomach bleeding, Kidney trouble and Liver damage.

Ketek- Gets rid of fluid and in the lungs and discomfort from sinus. It also works on making your liver less effective, which is a dangerous  trade off.

There are other drugs on the list, that may not be a safe as they could be and that doctors need to be held accountable for prescribing.  Whatever you drug use i, be sure to listen to everything you hear about damaging side affects and take your concerns to your doctors.  Make them work, there are safer alternative out there that can get you the same results.