[PRCo] Re: Gas Prices

[Edward H. Lybarger]

Me, too, Rich.  You haven't said anything so far that I disagree with.

Ed

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of John
Swindler
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 8:51 AM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Gas Prices

 
 
Thank you, Rich.  Very much enjoyed your "insiders" viewpoint.  If you care
to lay out a solution for our health care mess, may I request being put on
the distribution list??
 
Cheers
John
 
 
 
 
> Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:00:22 -0500> From: allmanr at verizon.net> Subject:
[PRCo] Re: Gas Prices> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > anyone who
wants to know what I think is needed to fix our health care mess, > contact
me off this site and I'll lay it out. You might be surprised re: my > view
and if you are a Red State mentality you probably won't like it. > Suffice
it to say, that a "system" which consumes more than 15% of GNP, > leaves 47
million people without any coverage and another almost 50 million >
underinsured has problems. Add to that the impact on American industrial >
competiveness because of health care expenditures(GM's biggest supplier is >
no long USX or it's successors, it is Blue Cross of SE Michigan.) Then look
> at the disparities in care-back operations per captia much higher in New >
Haven than Boston w/ similar populations and severity adjusted disease >
incidence. Then look at some outcomes-third world type incidence of infant >
mortality and!
  thoroughly undrwhelming life expectacny vs. other > industrialized
nations. Other nations have found a way to cover all of their > citizens,
with better outcomes, for far less cost. Then the fragmentation of >
care-ping ponging from one specialist to another with a shortage of primary
> care physicians due to pathetic reimbursement and a system that rewards >
technical procedures, but nothing for those who follow patients and at the >
right time decide that the procedure is timely. The situation is like this-a
> woman who is the wife of a retured dentist living on the Main Line >
approached me after church a few months ago and told me she was unable to >
find a primary care physician who is accepting new patients. Similar stories
> are reported in Metropolitan Boston, home of some of the world's best >
hospitals. Medical students graduate with like $200,000 in student loan debt
> and are pushed into high paying specialties, irrespective of societal
needs. > And believe me,!
  society is invested: the huge tuitions cover only a fraction > of med ical
education and the rest is subsidized; students get to learn on > patients
doing examinations well before they are fully qualifed. Therefore, > medical
knowledge and skills are in no way the property of physicians-they > are a
public trust. It's eay to beat on the VA system, and it has had a too > long
history of problems, but by any pbjective measure, the quality of care >
there in the past decade has probably improved more than in any other >
system. It's easy to rail against Medicare, but look back to before there >
was that program, and firther, Medicare has the lowest percentage of >
expenditure for overhead of any system in the US. Sorry to rant for so long.
> You got me started, Fred!Happy New Year , all!> > RICH> Richard L. Allman,
MD> President, Medical Staff, Albert Einstein Medical Center> Medical
Ethicist> Medical Revolutionary -in-Waiting> PTM Member> > ----- Original
Message ----- > From: "Schneider Fred" <fwschneider at comcast.net>> To:
<pittsburgh-railways@!
 dementia.org>> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 9:14 AM> Subject: [PRCo]
Re: Gas Prices> > > > And, whether we wish to recognize it or not, with the
welfare medical> > cards for those of insufficient means to afford medical
care> > otherwise, we are somewhere in the middle. We simply have refused> >
to acknowledge it. There are several of us on this list who have> >
relatives who participate by choice. Will someone explain to me> > what the
difference is? Yes, the difference lies in the middle> > between those who
have employer paid benefits or abundant cash and> > those who have nothing
or choose to have nothing ... those who> > struggle and get no where may
have nothing. However, the doctors> > can still not turn them down.> >> > It
is the doctor who gets screwed. One of the many I have collected> > as I
aged told me several years ago, "I have not raised my rates in> > five years
because it won't do any good. The insurance companies> > and medicare tell
me what they are g!
 oing to pay me anyway." What he> > left unsaid was that he didn't have  the
heart to charge those with no> > money. Unfortunately, what happens is that
the minutes the doctor> > can allocate to each patient becomes reduced each
year and the> > patient is forced, in some ways, to control his own medicine
and to> > make sure he asks the right questions. There is a medical> >
practitioner on this list who I personally know wrote off a> > substantial
amount of money when he went from private practice to> > hospital practice
some years ago. My father-in-law wrote of> > hundreds of thousands of
dollars in his life time as a surgeon.> > Sadly the image is a man driving
around in a big car; they are not> > all like that.> >> > On Dec 30, 2008,
at 8:54 AM, Edward H. Lybarger wrote:> >> >> If you remove the profit
motive, you remove the incentive for any> >> kind of> >> quality or service.
But you also get in trouble when there is> >> unlimited> >> profit motive,
because in the hubris, the recognized need for those> >> qualities gets
lost.> >>> >> As wit!
 h everything else, the best position is somewhere in the middle.> >>> >>
Ed> >>> >> -----Original Message-----> >> From:
pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org> >>
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of> >>
John> >> Swindler> >> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 8:37 AM> >> To:
pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> >> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Gas Prices> >>> >>>
>>> >> We already have an example of socialized medicine in this country.>
>> It's> >> called the Veteran's Administration.> >>> >> I've heard some
good stories about the VA, particularly the one in> >> Lebanon,> >> but also
too many horror stories. Also, there were three incidents> >> over> >> past
12-15 months of patients being ignored in emergency rooms to> >> die. All>
>> three happened in government run facilities. I'd rather be able to> >>
schedule> >> an appointment at Lancaster General instead of being put on a
VA> >> waiting> >> list.> >>> >> John> >>> >>> >>> >>> Date: Mon, 29 Dec!
  2008 14:50:18 -0800> From: pcc_sr at yahoo.com>> >>> Subject:> >> [PRCo]
 Re: Gas Prices> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > > -----> >>
Original Message ----> > > From: John Swindler> >> <j_swindler at hotmail.com>>
> >> >>>>> My wife went on a mission trip to Novosibirsk several> > years
ago,> >> and at a get-together showed a picture of our > > house. The> >>
'locals' wanted> >> to know on which floor was> > our apartment located. She
felt> >> embarrassed> >> telling them> > that we lived in the entire house.
And our > > square> >> footage is smaller then the average.> > When living
in San> >> Francisco in the> >> 1980s I attended a> church which had a big
missionary project to> >> Russia> as> >> well as Russian immigrants here.
Mention a trip> to the super> >> market and> >> they begged to go along.
They> were constantly astonished at the> >> variety we> >> have here.> > The
battle cry of protesters coming out of the hippy> >> era> was> >> 'food for
people not for profit.' Remove the profit> incentive and> >> there> >> goes
our variety does!
 n!> >> 't it. That's why> I give pause to 'socialized' medicine. As I> >>
mentioned> >> before> we seem to have much better health care in some
respects> than> >> Britain. But 'if' we go socialized method I shall>
probably be> >> pushing up> >> the daisies by then.> > > Phil> > > > > >> >>
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