How much longer can we ignore the real healthcare problem?
Vermont is currently debating the financial health of the state’s hospitals. That’s a crucial question. But the plight of Vermont’s hospitals is a symptom, not a disease. The disease is a horrendous complexity and waste that permeates healthcare. For example, there are now 10 healthcare administrators for every physician in the United States:
[https://pnhp.org/news/10-administrators-for-every-1-doctor-we-deserve-a-better-healthcare-system/].
In 2011 U.S. medical offices spent 20.6 hours a week on billing issues for every physician in the office. In Ontario, Canada, billing took up only 2.5 hours a week per doctor.: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/in-the-literature/2011/aug/us-practices-spend-four-times-as-much-as-canadian]
Billing costs alone may account for a major chunk of the hospitals’ financial problems. Canadian professor Antonia Maioni once compared the billing departments at a major Canadian hospital [“maybe seven desks] and an American hospital in Plattsburgh, NY [“a whole wing” of the facility].
Blue Cross, Blue Shield of VT handled 2.4 million initial claims in 2021, rejecting 161,000. [https://dfr.vermont.gov/sites/finreg/files/doc_library/dfr-bcbsvt-2021-act-152-filing.pdf] What is the cost of that?
Way back in 1991, the GAO issued a report stating that applying “the universal coverage and single-payer features of the Canadian system” to the US would result in administrative cost savings “more than enough to finance insurance coverage for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured” and reduce or eliminate copayments and deductibles. http://www.gao.gov/products/HRD-91-90
We’re running out of time. Our healthcare house is on fire. A fire hydrant is right there, in plain sight. See it?
Lee Russ
Bennington