The authors of the failed bill did not obtain any input from healthcare stakeholders. Medicare, in its current existence, is a financial black hole that rewards failure and does little to enhance better outcomes. I work in healthcare quality/performance improvement, and can report the excess of taxpayer dollars that are paid for data mining and reporting. Go to medicare.gov and look up Hospital Compare. The required domain measures include:
-Patient Experience (HCAHPS Survey)
-Timely and Efficient Care (Multiple measures for different procedures/services)
-Surgical Complications and Healthcare-Associated Infections
-Use of Medical Imaging measures
-Payment and Value of Care measures

None of the money spent on data abstract nurses, performance improvement professionals, infection prevention nurses, accounting, electronic medical records data miners, and contracts with reporting vendors…goes toward actual patient care. Fee-for-service payment systems reward treatment failures.

Additionally, there are millions of taxpayer dollars wasted in Medicare fraud, with no identified way to vet the claims process.

The goal is not to “gut” healthcare, but to create laws that will make our healthcare delivery system viable and affordable. We need to open the market, allowing for interstate insurance policies, tort reform (to decrease defensive medicine that drives costs upward), allow insurers to sell a variety of products (thus creating a larger risk pool based upon competitive pricing), and streamline claims processes to remove the added costs of multiple utilization reviewers and appeals personnel.

Social Workers remain in a unique position to lead the way in creation of a seamless health care delivery system, free of the current silos based upon level of care.

So, please quit picking on one political party and our “billionaire buddies” as you disrespectfully call us. We’re people too.

It does not appear this version of the bill will clear the House, let alone the Senate. A desirable plan will take months to complete, with strong stakeholder involvement. The results will engender a better, seamless health care delivery system that is affordable to U.S. citizens without taxing them for choosing to not pay for insurance.