NEW YORK, June 17, 2008
Study Predicts Ballooning Health Costs
Hospital-Building Boom And Cost Shifting From The Uninsured Are To Blame, Audit Finds
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(CBS/AP)
- Stories
- Fed Wary Of Health Care Costs
The study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts that medical costs will increase 9.9 percent in 2008 and an additional 9.6 percent in 2009.
"Health care providers, insurers and employers will have to monitor medical costs carefully if we are to avoid a resurgence of the double-digit annual increases seen in the past," said Dr. David Chin, leader of the Health Research Institute at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
The report identified two factors driving the increase:
- A hospital building boom, as hospitals replace facilities and add private rooms and centers for outpatient treatment.
- An increase in the expenses those with insurance are paying for those without. Cost-shifting from the uninsured, Medicare and Medicaid will account for nearly one in every five dollars spent by private insurers in 2009, according to the study, as the federal government underfunds public insurance programs and the number of people with private insurance continues to decrease.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers surveyed more than 500 employers and health plans, with total coverage of more than 11 million people, for the report.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- How many countries have abandoned universal healthcare for for-profit healthcare?
Posted by actornaught at 08:51 PM : Jun 17, 2008
....Posted by edintex at 12:22 AM : Jun 18, 2008
Ya know pasting my question and then not answering it is almost as dishonest as a coward like yourself can be. - Reply to this comment
- "No, society WILL die when they get sick and there are NO doctors because they could not be attracted to the profession or couldn''''t be retained since they couldn''''t make a good profit to make it worthwhile to them. Profit makes the world go round."
The problem is charging an obscene amount in an effort to have the few with insurance cover those without. I only 1 person mails a letter next with the US postal system , he has to pay for the entire system with a single multibillion dollar stamp. The system has to paid for by the few that use it. Same concept here. They over charge and the few that pay cover the entire system. Problem is, suggesting everyone have insurance results in some morons screaming communism/socialism and actually wetting their pants. I don''t understand how a few of us having coverage is a good thing but everyone having insurance is the end of the world. - Reply to this comment
- I will never buy the idea that Doctors are entitled to an Infinite salary just because they spent some years working hard for it. Society will not die for it by accepting whatever salary Doctors claim they should make.
Posted by lovegetpeace at 12:40 AM : Jun 18, 2008
No, society WILL die when they get sick and there are NO doctors because they could not be attracted to the profession or couldn''t be retained since they couldn''t make a good profit to make it worthwhile to them. Profit makes the world go round. - Reply to this comment
- HEY lovegetpeace:
YOU SAID: A person with a Ph.D. spends more years with the books than a doctor and makes less than half.
ANSWER: Why would anyone want become a Ph.D. then? (Duh) While MOST Ph.D''s probably do make less money, the Ph.D''s at our fine and increasingly expensive colleges make MUCH MORE than most doctors!
YOU SAID: Doctors in all other countries with better ranking than America makes a lot less than Americans and they are well off and happy.
ANSWER: Is that why there are (NOT)SOOooo many more doctors per person by ratio in those wonderful countries? - Reply to this comment
- Hey edintex,
I will never buy the idea that Doctors are entitled to an Infinite salary just because they spent some years working hard for it. Society will not die for it by accepting whatever salary Doctors claim they should make. No doctor is my God just as no politician/leader is my God. - Reply to this comment
- Hey edintex,
How many of those covered by "universal healthcare" come over here and use our "for profit" system for urgent care because of a lack of doctors in their own system?
Answer: Those (rich) that can affort it or someone pays it for them. How many American can claim this?
2) What incentive is there for a young person to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes to become a doctor, then not make a reasonable profit due to the price curbs of their "universal healthcare" system?
Answer: A person with a Ph.D. spends more years with the books than a doctor and makes less than half. Doctors in all other countries with better ranking than America makes a lot less than Americans and they are well off and happy. Capitalism creates Greeders all around just like the CEO/Worker Ratio of America against all other countries. When is too much too much? - Reply to this comment
- Even if you have very good health insurance, a catastrophic health event requiring major surgery and rehab and lost time from work will STILL sink you financially just as much as someone without insurance. In other words, you can drown in 6 feet of water just as well as you can drown in 6,000 feet of water. Sometimes, it''s just the way the cards are dealt to you in life. The U.S. government is NOT responsible for protecting everybody from everything.
- Reply to this comment
- How many countries have abandoned universal healthcare for for-profit healthcare?
Posted by actornaught at 08:51 PM : Jun 17, 2008
....How many of those covered by "universal healthcare" come over here and use our "for profit" system for urgent care because of a lack of doctors in their own system? What incentive is there for a young person to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes to become a doctor, then not make a reasonable profit due to the price curbs of their "universal healthcare" system? - Reply to this comment
- Wellness doesn''t increase productivity. The same number of people turning out more product (working harder) or fewer people turning out the same amount of product (working harder) is THE ONLY WAY productivity is increased.
- Reply to this comment
- Wellness doesn''t increase productivity. The same number of people turning out more product (working harder) or fewer people turning out the same amount of product (working harder) is THE ONLY WAY productivity is increased.
- Reply to this comment
- Posted by ender18 at 08:40 PM : Jun 17, 2008
How many countries have abandoned universal healthcare for for-profit healthcare? - Reply to this comment
- Until we curb the number of frivolous lawsuits and change our medical-legal system, medical spending will continue to grow. Every headache seen in the emergency usually results in a CT scan for fear of missing a rare bleed or tumor. Everyone with back pain demands an MRI. The bottom line is, everyone wants everything, does not want to pay for it, and looks to sue for any bad outcome. In a capitalist system - creating a economically sound universal system will be near impoassible to cover the masses.
- Reply to this comment
- What options does a family have? Not have health insurance & take your chances?
- Reply to this comment
- ----
Case in point: A local hospital used to be served by a mobile MRI machine. The truck would come several half days a week and appointments were made to see them. If it was an emergency, they were taken by ambulance or helicopter to a larger hospital. It was decided they were going to get their own machine at the cost of millions and millions for the addition plus a new machine and now the machine and room sits empty several half days a week plus the people who are in bad shape still get medivaced out because their treatment is going to be more complex than the hospital can handle.
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Same here .. local hospital just expanded again ... same story with the MRI .. went from 15 emergency room cubicals to 50 ... price of e-room visit jumped 40% and 30 of the rooms don''t even have the plastic off some of the equipment. - Reply to this comment
- Hey ShawnHussey,
"...If every American exercised on a regular basis, our nation would be a much healthier society.I believe in exercising every day."
Stop watching TV. Stop playing with the Video Games. Stop your current activities on this laptop/computer.
The Obesity problem is fixed overnight. - Reply to this comment
- Hey itgrammy,
I concur with you that expensive high-tech machines only add a huge cost and add almost nothing to the life-expectancy data. Millions which can be used for preventive care and other things that do increase the life-expectancy data is instead spent on one plastic and metal machine collecting dust most of the time because nobody can afford it. - Reply to this comment
- Hey itgrammy,
I concur with you that expensive high-tech machines only add a huge cost and almost nothing to the life-expectancy data. Millions which can be used or preventive care and other things that do add up the life-expectancy data is instead spent on one plastic and metal machine collecting dust most of the time. - Reply to this comment
- It makes great sense for companies to establish wellness programs.American schools can also educate young people about the importance of maintaining good health through exercise and nutrition.If every American exercised on a regular basis, our nation would be a much healthier society.I believe in exercising every day.
- Reply to this comment
- sorry, bad copy and paste job.
- Reply to this comment
- I may be in the minority here but I often wonder about the spending of these health care facilities. For most businesses, you need to pencil things out first, and if the numbers work out, you expand. Seems with health care, they add on, and then charge more for everyone. It doesn''t seem to matter the cost vs. benefit before adding on. They don%u2019t seem to care that many can%u2019t afford their services any longer.
Case in point: A local hospital used to be served by a mobile MRI machine. The truck would come several half-days a week and appointments were made accordingly. If it was an emergency, they were taken by ambulance or helicopter to a larger hospital. It was decided they were going to get their own machine at the cost of millions and millions for the addition plus a new machine and the people to run it. Now the machine and room sit empty all but a few hours of the day. It%u2019s getting used the same amount of hours at the mobile unit plus the people who are in bad shape still get medi-vaked out because their treatment is going to be more complex than the hospital can handle.
continued: - Reply to this comment
