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From what I have been able the US version of Treasury has informed Obama and congress that the planned changes to heath care isn’t affordable. Just like Bush failed to Budget for the war in Iraq, Obama and the Dems will continue to push the Health Care plans thou into law. Not to be all negative even thou it is completely unrelated I supported Obama handling of the protests in Iran.
To appropriately address waste in health spending, health industry leaders, policymakers and consumers must work together on system-wide goals and incentives. In April 2008,
Our research found that wasteful spending in the health system has been calculated at up to $1.2 trillion of the $2.2 trillion spent in the United States, more than half of all health spending. Defensive medicine, such as redundant, inappropriate or unnecessary tests and procedures, was identified as the biggest area of excess, followed by inefficient healthcare administration and the cost of care necessitated by conditions such as obesity, which can be considered preventable by lifestyle changes.
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ paper classified health system inefficiencies into three “wastebaskets” that are driving up costs:
1) Behavioral where individual behaviors are shown to lead to health problems, and have potential opportunities for earlier,
non-medical interventions.
2) Clinical where medical care itself is considered inappropriate, entailing overuse, misuse or under-use of particular interventions, missed opportunities for earlier interventions, and overt errors leading to quality problems for the patient, plus cost and rework.
3) Operational where administrative or other business processes appear to add costs without creating value.
When added together, the opportunities for eliminating wasteful spending add up to as much as $1.2 trillion. The impact of issues such as non-adherence to medical advice and prescriptions, alcohol abuse, smoking and obesity are exponential, and fall into all three baskets. www.pwc.com...
Whatever the merits of Obama or the Dems health care plans it strikes a cord with people in the same way the Nuclear issue does in New Zealand. Once an issue enters the national conciseness all rationality goes out the window. If Obama’s health care bill does pass into law I dread to think just what kind of pork projects will be included. Cheers xpert11
When the time comes for New Zealand to become a Republic the country would be very well advised to stick with the Parliamentary system. It is true that in a bicameral Parliamentary democracy Obama could simple go to the polls to resolve the health care debate. Under the system you support and I live under Obama wouldn't truly be the elected leader like he currently is. BTW why is September 15th the next important date? Is that when Congress meets next?