Re: “” Dec. 24 letter to the editor.
We would like to thank Mr. Ken Lieb for his thoughtful comments in response to our Dec. 17, 2016 Perspective: “US is on fast track to health care train wreck.” Controlling health care costs must be a multifaceted approach.
The largest drivers of waste and abuse are exorbitant hospital, private insurance, and pharmaceutical charges and price gouging. If the healthiest 80 percent, most of whom are covered by private insurance through their employer, could be brought into the Medicare risk pool, it would provide universal coverage and bring down the cost of premiums for everyone. Then there would no longer be a need for Medicaid if all were covered by Medicare.
In regard to those who says “no” regarding health care expenditures, one of the most cost effective measures we all can take is to have detailed advanced directives and living wills that will dramatically reduce the extremely expensive futile end of life care. This will also reduce the burden of relatives having to make very difficult end of life care decisions.
Vince Markovchick, M.D., Golden,Richard D. Lamm, former governor of Colorado, Denver
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