Affordable Healthcare That Saves 500 Billion Dollars Each Year

Health Care costs too much. Acquiring medical service licenses (doctors, nurses, practitioners, specialists) is also too expensive. Politicians and administrators often dictate your medical services, not your doctors. Politicians' healthcare is provided regardless of the process and limitations they provide for you. Our ruling class does not suffer the laws, rules, and mandates they inflict on the citizens who elect them.

Doctors, nurses, machines, buildings, and medications are cultural necessities. We pay for the expertise resulting from the expensive training of people who can save lives, perform surgeries, and create medicines. Unfortunately, our current schemes of providing medical services involve structures of regulated insurance. Government insurance models made by politicians and lobbyists have established a bloated bureaucracy of forms, regulations, and service limitations. Government rules, codes, and administration edicts add about thirty percent to healthcare costs.

Our politician's current answer to providing healthcare for everyone is creating a tax and administering services from behind closed doors with a panel of ‘experts’ you may not trust to remove a splinter. A more common-sense solution should focus on services while simultaneously lowering the costs to the taxpayer.

Since the Federal Government insists on being involved with healthcare, what should we demand?

Health Care Solution Requirements:

1. Instantly make health care available to every citizen at affordable costs.

2. Reduce the costs of health services, including pharmaceuticals.

3. Save at least half a trillion dollars of government spending!

4. Allow free market enterprises to continue by offering competitive insurance schemes and encouraging more students to become Doctors, Nurses, and health care professionals.

5. Create a system supporting and providing an avenue for an instant repeal of all Government-Run Health care programs while simultaneously solving cost and service problems.

6. Ensure pre-condition support while allowing citizens to choose their healthcare services.

7. Remove government control over individual health care services and dictation of costs.

8. Eliminate the enormous costs of paperwork and bureaucracy currently employed by the Government.

9. The solution must be quick to implement and easy for every citizen to understand.

The following solution meets all the above requirements by directly subsidizing the service providers. The acceptance of the subsidy demands health services provided for every citizen.

A list of subsidies:

Subsidize every licensed physician $100,000 ($90 billion per year).

Subsidize every registered nurse $30,000, ($90 billion per year).

Allocate every hospital $17 million ($95 billion per year on average).

Subsidize $75,000 for every licensed Nurse Practitioner ($8.3 billion per year).

Subsidize $45,000 for every Physician assistant ($3.2 billion per year).

Allocate Drug subsidies ($263 billion per year).

The Government's involvement will be limited to disbursing funds to health professionals, and hospitals, and regulating drug companies. Current payroll taxes provide $275 billion each year (half of the disbursements described in the above-proposed allocations). In 2015 the American Hospital Insurance Trust Fund garnered 275 Billion in taxes and spent 646 billion on services for only 15% of the population (according to AARP). The extra money needed comes from the general fund in a country already over twenty trillion in debt. State and local agencies, private accrediting organizations, and about thirty federal agencies regulate hospitals. They all require paperwork.

The Federal Government spent $1.2 trillion on healthcare in 2019. State expenditures added over $500 billion in addition to Federal costs.[1] According to the National Health Expenditure fact sheet, Americans spent over $3.8 trillion on healthcare in 2019. Therefore, government spending contributed over $1.7 trillion to a $3.8 trillion total healthcare bill.

Medicare claimed approximately $644 billion, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) used about $427 billion, and veterans’ medical care cost about $80 billion.

To control prices and services, the Government and insurance companies create rules and regulations to fix the costs of procedures. They require immense databases to achieve these goals, and you can appreciate the health code designation of being bitten by a duck as just another line item under their scrutiny. If you think that is a bit complicated, there is another entry for walking into a lamp post. Too much? How about the designated health problem of having walked into a lamp post for the second time?

We have too many ducks, lamp posts, and regulatory constrictions meant to control costs but inadvertently end up controlling lives and behavior. The regulations and paperwork can raise the cost of medical services by 30% or more.

The paperwork, regulations, and bureaucracy must be removed.

The costs for this program solution can be garnered from the general fund like today’s medicare system and still reduce federal overhead expenses for health care by over half a trillion dollars each year. For better transparency, raising the payroll tax from 1.5% to 3% will accomplish similar savings.

Nothing is free, however, and the subsidies mentioned will still not cover the total expenses.

Co-pays are necessary.

Let doctors, hospitals, drug vendors, and specialists charge whatever they desire in the form of co-pays. For example, some doctors in a central state were charging $50.00 per month for adults and $10.00 a month for children to cover all medical services. They negotiate a discount of over 80% for drugs used by members who pay the monthly service fee. After they made enough compensation, they filled their spare time serving poorer clients and found they could double the number of patients without overloading their practice.

Only 100 paying patients would be needed to add $60,000.00 in income per year, but facilities and staff are still expenses not included in this appraisal. Commercially provided catastrophic insurance can be purchased to cover the large co-pays demanded for major medical services like cancer treatments, transplants, significant surgeries, expensive drugs, or continuing services like dialysis. In our current system, Medicare recipients often pay over $150.00 per month for supplemental insurance.

One might see catastrophic health insurance ‘bundled’ with a car and home insurance plan in the future. Medicare, Medicaid, and Government care would be gone. Only the Medicare ‘payroll’ tax increase of 3% may remain. Paperwork would be a simple addition to the IRS tax form.

The Government could encourage more people to become doctors by allowing health employees, doctors, assistants, etc., to pay minimal or no taxes. Tax-free health saving accounts and catastrophic insurance sales across state lines should be allowed for citizens and potentially offered by employers. Enabling employees to carry the non-taxed medical savings account privately and onward to new employers would help pay for large co-pays required by specialists.

And what about the poor people who get sick but have no job, pay no taxes, and have no catastrophic health insurance? The poor will always be with us – that is why we paid the doctor’s subsidy upfront. This solution ensures no citizen will be denied service by those who accept the subsidies, but any patient should pay a co-pay, even if it is only ten dollars.

The physicians who do not want Federal assistance or a tax break can charge what they want and service whom they please.

This style of subsidies and tax incentives will increase the number of people willing to become doctors, which is currently predicted to be 90,000 short by 2025.[2] Nevertheless, the result is still a federal savings of over half a trillion dollars.

Concrete and predictable medical costs have proven to be elusive when governments and insurance companies make the payments. If someone else is paying – the charges are of little consequence to the patient. In this subsidized system, transparent costs would allow patients to seek the best service at the lowest co-pay. Few hospitals charge alike, and most patients rarely get detailed prices even after services are rendered.

Patients, families, and guardians could choose expenditures concerning health rather than insurance and Government bureaucracies. Who should decide on the efficacy of an expensive bone marrow transplant that is the only option for sustaining life? (That was a meeting into which I wish I never accidentally intruded).

Tort reform is also necessary.

Medical services have minimal latitude where judgments fail to achieve desired results. The fear of making a mistake results in American providers performing more tests than any other country. Tests can also be a good source of income. In one U.S. city, the cost of an echocardiogram ranged from $700 to $12,000 (Medicare paid less than $500. in all cases).[3] Transparent charges might correct some of these disparities.

Current Medicare taxes are 1.4% of payroll taken from both employees and employers. The services kick in when the patient reaches the age of 65 and can procure supplemental insurance to cover expenses beyond the purview of Medicare. Before the age of 65, each citizen must provide a method of healthcare coverage. Some employers offer health insurance, but sick people can lose their jobs.

In a non-capitalist bureaucracy, the Government may require the patient to sell all their belongings, land, home, and savings before providing healthcare. Any organization given the power to provide everything can take everything.

It is important to remember that giving control of healthcare to any Government allows the dictation of behavior based on health concerns. Yes, American politicians tried to deem owning a gun as unhealthy. Our representatives considered taxing firearms and regulating behavior like smoking, drinking, or using specific drugs. Citizens must behave according to regulations or suffer higher costs and limited healthcare.

Complex problems are weighed regarding outcomes and patient threats vs. costs, profits, and risks to the insurance providers. Health providers do make mistakes, but errors are often the product of being human. People do make mistakes, and judgments may not be perfect. Regulations and rules made by bureaucracies should not compound mistakes.

While poor service must remain answerable by legal actions, we need to remember that, in the end, we all return to the manufacturer.

This solution allows doctors, hospitals, and specialists to charge whatever they desire in the form of co-pays; however, pharmaceuticals must be regulated with oversight. Price gouging/fixing and suspicious advertising claims have produced discrepancies that indicate the need for a small committee of expert overseers. Bundled interstate bulk purchases can also provide more competitive pricing. America should not continue to pay more for identical products available in other countries. Pharma is a huge business that advertises cures for numerous ailments, and many are paid for by Government programs. This isn’t counting insulin or epinephrine but does consider the many advertised drugs you see on television and media ads for niche drugs addressing specific symptoms. The drug ads sell high-priced ‘cures’ for publicized problems that have grown to over five billion dollars a year.[4] Banning direct-to-consumer drug advertising by the AMA is a recommended solution to reducing drug costs. In addition, pharma should be prohibited from making political contributions or lobbying in any form.

Most medical school applicants complete a bachelor's degree program before they apply to medical school. American Med schools should be open to anyone capable of comprehending and applying the education after finishing High School. A High School graduate can obtain a medical degree in India in five and a half years. (They must still pass tests to practice in the U.S.).

The current healthcare system in America is primarily provided by insurance schemes that demand profit. Most people are more interested in Health Services than Health Insurance, but specific insurance coverages are rarely mentioned until you get to long-term care and expensive treatments. In the future, one might see catastrophic and long-term health insurance ‘bundled’ with car and home insurance plans in the future. Medicare, Medicaid, and Government care would be gone. Only the ‘Medicare’ payroll tax would remain.

France and Italy provide examples of other country's healthcare systems that offer aspects of this solution.

France refunds approximately 70% of health care costs to consumers (2012 data). A government board determines reimbursed fees, but Doctors can charge whatever they want. Their Ministry of Health negotiates the price of medicines with manufacturers.

Patient co-pay varies, and affordable private insurance is available (85% participation).

The more critical and expensive treatments are paid in full with no co-pay.

Italy pays 100% for family practitioners who are allowed a maximum of 1500 patients. Diagnostic tests often require a co-pay of about $40. Emergency care is free, and non-urgent services request a small co-pay. Waiting times can be long for surgical procedures, but consumers can pay for immediate support (additional cost). Getting services can result in long wait times, but the providers are highly trained and professional.

This solution to America’s healthcare provides a competitive, growing healthcare market that offers transparent pricing with quality services not controlled by Governments and an enormous overreaching bureaucracy. The subsidy list and Healthcare Bill can be supplied without thousands of pages of lawyer-speak documentation. Politicians might be encouraged to read the bill before signing it.

If more benefits are desired, the $500 billion saved can be tapped for further subsidies, but, once initiated, this solution must require a congressional super-majority vote to make any changes.

What does our current healthcare system provide?

Answer: Insurance schemes funnel a portion of their income money to healthcare providers. They operate on a profit using government dictates in terms of dollars, not service. As a result, some health providers refuse Medicare and Medicaid. The hassle of paperwork and low reimbursement make providing service unprofitable.

The demonstrated subsidized solution allows insurance businesses to continue offering supplements or full coverage while insurance schemes may focus on supporting co-pays. The doctor, staff, nurses, and other health professionals are directly subsidized instead of serving as tertiary members paid after insurance company profits, hospital profits, government controller profits, and drug company profits.

Hospitals will benefit directly from subsidized payments of $17 million each year. CAT scanners cost almost $3 million, and MRI machines cost about $2.3 million. 3-D Mammography machines cost about $800K. An x-ray machine can cost over $200k. The most expensive unit is a Particle Accelerator which can cost $100 million. Is a $17 million subsidy each year enough? A small 40-bed hospital building cost about $1 million to build before 2016. Equipment and staff are needed to fill the building. Although much of the equipment is expensive, it lasts more than one year. For example, a well-maintained MRI scanner has a life span of over ten years.

Hospital administrators may disapprove of direct subsidies. They often make more than all the doctors, and direct contributions not tied to Government controls are not how they did business yesterday. This not-invented-here concept will impact their existing business model based on insurance schemes, Government controls, paperwork, and opaque charges for service. Competition, integrated within this proposal, may not be a primary concern in their current operations.

Transparent pricing is overcome by some hospitals charging facility fees after the services are performed.[5] Federal regulations allow this charge on top of the tab for medical services, allegedly to cover their high costs and provide assistance for non-paying patients. Facility charges, if permitted, must be transparently delineated before services are rendered.

Drug companies may see a risk to profits and will allocate money to representatives, lobbyists, think tanks, and the media who may not support direct subsidies.

It is suggested that one state implement this model to provide a proof of concept. That state should prepare for an influx of doctors, potential patients, and medical support staff before calculating how to spend the savings on medical service costs.

Other country’s citizens can avoid long wait times for service by getting on a plane and traveling to America.

Some backup data from JustFacts.com

Roughly 60 minutes of paperwork were performed for every hour of emergency department care, 36 minutes of paperwork for every hour of surgery and acute inpatient care, 30 minutes of paperwork for every hour of skilled nursing care, and 48 minutes of paperwork for every hour of home health care.

• "Each time a physician orders a test or a procedure, the physician documents the order in the patient's record. But the government requires additional documentation to prove the necessity for the test or procedure."

• "Many forms must be completed daily by clinical staff to submit to the government to justify the care provided to skilled nursing facility patients."

• Medicare and Medicaid "rules and instructions" are more than 130,000 pages, and "at least four people must review medical records to ensure compliance" with Medicare program requirements.

• "A Medicare patient arriving at the emergency department is required to review and sign eight different forms—just for Medicare alone."

• "Each time a patient is discharged, even if only from the acute unit of the hospital to the on-site skilled nursing unit, multiple care providers must write a discharge plan for the patient. This documentation, as long as 30 pages, applies to all patients, regardless of the complexity of care received within the hospital or required post-hospital setting."

• In addition to regulation by state and local agencies and private accrediting organizations, hospitals are regulated by nearly 30 federal agencies.

Healthcare has recently become politicized. The COVID outbreak allowed politicians to become authoritarians and dictate anti-American laws that closed selected businesses and imposed travel restrictions. Instead of demanding experimental vaccines, companies could provide free ivermectin tablets that only cost pennies. The proven medication has provided a large population in India to avoid most medical problems associated with the COVID-19 virus.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

The two hundred forty million closely packed humans in the Indian province of Uttar Pradesh and 4.9% vaccinated have done amazingly well using a therapy disdained by political operatives.[11]

The therapy is used as a prophylactic, and early use is encouraged for infected patients. Late use, after hospitalization is required, is much less effective. Unfortunately, most people in America are denied early use and are unable to purchase the therapy.

Politically oriented news and alleged fact-checkers deny the reports of the effectiveness of the therapy while demanding citizens to wear masks outdoors and stop working jobs or associating with family and neighbors because their stringent demands reflect pseudo-science.

The media and political authorities seek power by indoctrinating groupthink fear and propaganda. Any question about their mandates is censored. Proof of adverse opinions is claimed to be misinformation. The data is available in the references, and the readers are suggested to read the actual reports that include effectivity numbers.

One example provided for August 5, 2021: Delhi, with 31% population on ivermectin and 15% of the population vaccinated, reported Covid daily cases 61, and daily deaths of 2.

The U.S.A. off ivermectin with a population of 331 million and 50.5% vaccinations reported COVID daily cases of 127,108 and daily deaths of 574. The population difference of ten times should limit the U.S.A. deaths to twenty even without considering that 40% more Americans are ‘vaccinated’ or perhaps because so many more Americans were vaccinated with an emergency-approved product.

The reports of positive covid 19 infections are over-reported in the United States while serious side effects are underreported.[12] Indeed, VAERS, the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, appears to be backlogged for months.

Yes, there are other therapies. All of them are much cheaper than the ones paid for by American taxpayers. Medicare pays $13,000.00 per Covid hospital admission and $39,000.00 if you are privileged to be put on a ventilator.

More federal aid is available for hospitals. [13]

Remdesivir is an approved drug given to COVID patients at the cost of about $3,000. Ivermectin costs $5.95 for a standard supply bottle.[14] This price will rise as Americans are allowed to use it to save themselves and their families from a bioweapon-created epidemic that, in reality, has a low mortality rate but a high value when applied to authoritarian governments. COVID misperceptions and misreporting have been used to impact elections and expropriate governments.

All Pandas are rented from China and cost about a million dollars per year. Attempts to avoid this ridiculous cost by painting black bears with white splotches are neither safe nor healthy for humans or bears.

[1] https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-federal-government-spend-health-care

[2] https://www.ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1615-us-faces-90000-doctor-shortage-by-2025.html

[3] http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2014/12/24/rabner-questioned-on-high-cost-of-umcpp-test/

[4] https://www.health.harvard.edu/drugs-and-medications/do-not-get-sold-on-drug-advertising

[5] https://www.consumerreports.org/fees-billing/surprise-hospital-fee-just-for-seeing-a-doctor-facility-fee/

[6] https://www.worthynews.com/61607-indias-largest-state-nearly-covid-free-after-using-alternative-drug

[7] https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/05/india-just-became-latest-country-to-approve-use-of-ivermectin-to-treat-covid-19.html

[8] https://www.italy24news.com/News/161384.html

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248252/

[10] https://covid.us.org/2021/06/27/ivermectin-use-in-india/

[11] https://wentworthreport.com/2021/09/11/ivermectin-wins-in-india/

[12] https://undercurrents723949620.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/why-were-not-hearing-about-covid-vaccine-side-effects/

[13] https://www.hfma.org/topics/news/2020/07/the-new-round-will-pay--50-000-per-covid-19-admission--compared-.html

[14] https://dallasrenalgroup.com/buy-ivermectin-online-ivermectin-for-sale-over-the-counter/

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