Thoughts on Healthcare Reform

Some ideas to consider when thinking about healthcare reform. Firstly, I am ashamed, as an American, of republican activists who are against this who are using death threats and threatening violence as social protest. We have legislative and judicial systems for a reason. On another note:

Here are some of the key drivers of why healthcare is so expensive, we need to address these issues before we can fix the system:
a. The last 6 months of someone's life cost of care dwarfs the totality of costs in all of the rest of someone's life. We do need to acknowledge that we heroics with marginal benefits that cost endless dollars is not an option. Especially with 47 mm baby boomers moving into the end quarter of their lives. This does not equal death panels.

b. Malpratice premiums are insane because of the litigious nature people in the USA. This is also the reason why practitioners are forced to overcare with expensive tests and procedures. Things go wrong in medicine, it is unrealistic to think that just because something goes wrong means that someone is incompetent.

c. Hospitals have to charge inflated rates because they have to service everyone who comes into their emergency room, which people are using as a form of medical care. Until hospitals can separate out those costs to know how much they are bringing in on paying customers, we will have no idea of how much procedures should cost.

Just some thoughts, I am enjoying getting educated on the topic, and I learn something everyday.