I work in state government and have an affordable family plan through Kaiser - Thank God. I've watched my premiums & co-pays go up every other year which leaves me wondering how other families are handling the constantly rising costs. I believe there are a few things we can do immediately to lower the cost of health care - here's my list:
* Immediately remove prescription drug ads from all main stream media. Pharmacies and research centers will be able to cut costs by diverting funds to R & D and to building an online secure doctor's only site where they can advertise and discuss the pros/cons of drugs with each other;
* Hire thousands of workers to begin scanning, keying and converting medical paper files to electronic records. My state agency has spent the last year "going paperless" and although it is tedious and takes visionary leadership, the benefits which include saving time, money & space are enormous;
* Immediately end the shameful discrimination behind pre-existing conditions. No one in their right mind wants or expects to be ill, and should not be expected to get health coverage before knowing about having some disease or another;
* Deliver an executive order for all medical procedures in America to have a SET Price - at least within the same state. My friends & family members have compared procedural costs for the exact same medical care/treatment between cities in CA and the states of TX, NY, LA, NV & CA, and the differences we've found were shocking enough to make us angry. This is an outrage!
Comments are closed for this post.
