"Health care reform is not sustainable financially and it's also not sustainable politically if the best we can do is more taxpayer money and shifting costs to consumers," said Nancy Turnbull, an associate dean at the Harvard School of Public Health and member of the connector board. "We have to find other ways [to raise money and control costs] and we have to find them very quickly."
Not politcally sustainable.
Not financially sustainable.
Doesn't that sound like the current state of Medicare? And any possible effort to shift cost to the entitled people of America?
It may not be politically sustainable, but there is no alternative but to institute heavy duty ration.
(FREE) CARE=(MORE) CARE
(MORE) PERSONAL COST=(LESS) CONSUMPTION
IF you want FREE, you have to ration to control costs, or you get MORE COST.
IF you want LESS consumption, you have to make it cost more personally.
Mass is learning the hard way.
Before long, they will start to employ the faulty economics of the Medicare National Bank and start cutting payments to physicians. That will only increase volume and program costs and decrease access in the long term. I'm waiting for the announcement at anytime.
I wonder how long it will be before Mass faces a serious physician shortage.
ReplyDeleteMass has more physicians per capita than most states.
ReplyDeleteOne line of thinking is that is why their health care costs are so high.
Anon: Mass also has several large research institutions, and my understanding is that the physician "excess" disappears when you exclude physicians who don't actually take care of patients.
ReplyDeleteOh, and just because they have a lot of docs now doesn't mean that they will in 10 years.
ReplyDeleteMass already has a PCP shortage. I'm receiving letters from Havard Pilgrim (large insurance carrier) enticing my with 25K loan repayments per years worked as an out-pt PCP. The public is aware as well since it has been receiving media attention lately.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as my fiance completes his fellowship, we are out of this backward state! I agree with midwife, I would include not only research doc but all of the Mass MD residents who come for training and leave to practice elsewhere. When I taught a BMC, a good 95% of the resident were leaving Mass at the completion of their residency.