America’s Epidemic of Unnecessary Care

[Luxman]

Force insurance companies to pay 100% of all medical bills, that will drastically decrease costs and the number of unnecessary tests.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/overkill-atul-gawande

 

[acenipplelicker]

dr run some tests in case of lawsuits- they generally diagnose according to symptoms and likelyhood of a condition or disease

in the event of a rare condition they do not usually do not test for because its too expensive.

the rare case can be actionable in a court case and guess what the patient (plaintiff) will have an expensive pet scan to back up his claim and win big money

on one hand expensive tests drive up costs and lawsuits do also.
every time you hear of a plaintiff winning big in court- your paying for it

some people are very litigious and do not accept there own responsibility

hospitals often are right and settle because they do not want bad publicity.

 

[Rey C.]

Force insurance companies to pay 100% of all medical bills, that will drastically decrease costs and the number of unnecessary tests.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/overkill-atul-gawande

Wouldn't that have the opposite effect?

I have a high deductible policy. So when a doctor suggests certain tests for me, I get very involved, because the first $4 grand comes out of my pocket. If I was 100% covered (no deductible), I wouldn't care. As long as the test wouldn't physically harm me, test away.

My mother has Medicare and a supplemental policy, so she's fully insured. I have her medical POA, so I make the final decision on her care. When it comes to the cost of a test, I never factor that in.

 

[bobjustbob]

Family doctors are a thing of the past. They have been replace by the Doc in a Box. Private practices are only specialists. The health care system requires patients to choose a primary which is no more that a place to get a referral. Doc in a Box is not such a bad thing since it frees up hospital emergency rooms. They can do cuts and tests much faster. Also consider the insurance doctors have to carry. Everyone wants a lawsuit and many of these plaintiffs get paid.

 

[hawk2005]

I don't like the way it's going

 

[acenipplelicker]

I found out recently only my primary care dr is licensed to give work deferrals and similar
the primary orders tests and the specialist can not order any tests althought he can suggest some .if you are low income like me every thing is covered as long as my income is below 1370 per month and not 65