Yesterday we talked about the Trump administration's plan to change the Medicare reimbursement to replace the fee-for-service program with a flat rate. I noted that the fee-for-service program resulted in too many unnecessary procedures and surgeries. I didn't make that up, it first came to my attention in a C-span program about Health Care Mistakes and Costs in which Laura Beil and Martin Makery discussed that subject, among others.
Dr. Markey told about how he is occasionally invited to speak at gatherings of medical professionals. And at a dinner with a few drinks to loosen tongues, those professionals might describe how they would perform unnecessary surgeries because of the financial incentives. Watch the video linked above to hear for yourself.
Dr. Markey has a couple of articles in the Wall Street Journal. In How to Stop Hospitals From Killing Us he focuses on medical errors but adds this:
The human toll aside, medical errors cost the U.S. health-care system tens of billions a year. Some 20% to 30% of all medications, tests and procedures are unnecessary, according to research done by medical specialists, surveying their own fields. What other industry misses the mark this often?
Hopefully the new reimbursement scheme will help stall the pending medicare insolvency.
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1:31 PM 4/24/2019
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