Someone I know said something to the effect of dreading the coming Obama administration because health care will be socialized.
I’m not going to say whether that would be a good or bad idea (or even possible) because, frankly, I have no idea. But I will say something needs to be done.
This is certainly not a hard luck, woe is me, story. It’s just a recitation of what I paid for health care in 2008, and I imagine it is typical story for many people. In fact, I’m fortunate because I can afford this. Not easily, but I can.
I’m married with 3 children, self-employed thus self-insured, and in 2008, if my records are accurate, I spent $10,687 on Health Care give or take a few dollars. That’s $7,100 for insurance, $600 for dental, $2,500 for my daughter’s broken arm and the rest for assorted co-payments and incidentals.
My insurance premium went up 15% mid year and I expect another increase in ’09. Our insurance plan is lousy, but it is comparable to other plans we could afford and doesn’t cover maternity/child birth.
I don’t even know what it would cost a family who wanted more children. We could shop around for a better plan, but what is that going to do? Save us a few dollars each month but have our deductible go up even more in the event another arm gets broken?
Speaking of the broken arm, it cost us $2,500 because that is our individual deductible. Is there anyone out there who spends $2,500 on anything in their life without researching the options? Which big screen TV is best? Do I want a Dell or Gateway computer? I would almost bet even Bill Gates shops around a little bit.
Yet an arm breaks and if you ask whether treatment is necessary, you also ask where should I take her – to Children’s Hospital or another hospital? The simple question of asking what it will it cost makes you feel like a bad parent and then you just don’t ask. Even if you did ask the cost could they tell you the answer?
I don’t think they know because when you come in they don’t know what they need to do yet. And even if they did know and told me its $2,500 what am I going to do? It’s not like I can say “No thanks, that’s not in the budget.” You just suck it up and deal with the bills when they come in.
This brings us to the billing system. The arm was broken in late Spring and we were still receiving bills in December. Part of that was complicated by a change of address, but I’m not sure how much. Four hospital bills, two from the doctor and two from the X-ray lab.
How much of the cost goes into paying what I can only imagine are ridiculous administrative costs? How much do all companies involved in health care spend on managing the huge variety of insurance plans that exist, to review claims and process paperwork? Too much I think.
One of the things I consistently hear is the health care system needs more automation, particularly medical records so they can be easily shared. There are a number of companies working on developing these systems, and maybe there are even some that have been implemented.
The funny thing is that my friend who works in health care said there is no standard to follow. And the companies doing this have different record formats, which means sharing the data across different systems could be problematic.
Maybe these companies have enough foresight to develop compatibility with other systems, but I sure wouldn’t make that assumption. I can just see 5-10 years from now where all the records are automated, but Hospital A still can’t talk to Hospital B.
So while I fully support the efforts to automate, if it is done with lousy planning what have we gained? I’ve already experienced their solution to patient billing, and I can’t wait to see what they will do with patient records.
Obviously, I have no idea what President Obama will try and accomplish with the health care system during his term, but I’m hoping he will bring some new ideas and that people will consider them with an open mind. We certainly need to do something.
Alex Parkhurst lives in Centennial. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
