The Average Joe Economic Show

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Each Thursday, we will post an item that will help us forget the current economic situation.

I thought every one knew.

Aside from the sarcasm, it really is a big issue. With debt climbing close to 20% of our GDP, adding an additional 5% will bust the system. Plus, now the government will dictate who gets treated. Do not believe me, here are two examples.

1.) Forbes’ David Whelan interviewed the President’s former physician, Dr. David Scheiner. In the article, the good doctor really is not for ObamaCare. The great concerns are in regards to GPs, or General Practitioners. His best quote, “I’m not sure he really understands what we face in primary care.” Read the entire article for details.

If your own doctor does not believe in your plan, this is a problem. Mr. President, get your doctor’s approval before speaking on health care reform.

2.) My wife recently experienced what a socialized medical practice is. Her doctor, Dr. Edward Schwager, a vociferous proponent of government health care, treated my wife in a group setting. Than insisted that her injury (she fell down some stairs with our son) was not serious enough to warrant the treatment he prescribed. Treatment: Keep leg elevated, with ice for a week. This would be a great treatment, if my wife could get short-term disability (STD) from the doctor. Her job is in a call center, but she must also retrieve papers, information from other areas that encompass a building with stairs, 14,000 square feet, and poor access to an elevator. Her cubical is not positioned to allow for a raised leg with ice.

Dr. Schwager refused to sign an STD form to authorize short-term disability. No reason was stated.

The one factor that would make doctors cotton up to a government-controlled health care reform is caps on medical malpractice awards. The overriding reason doctors are expensive is the amount of insurance for malpractice. As I interviewed one physician, his insurance is 42% of his gross receipts liabilities for the month. In other words, if his gross receipts equals $ 100,000, his insurance premium is $ 42,000 PER MONTH. Doctors must pass this expense to patients and insurance providers. No wonder health insurance is expensive.

The government already has medical insurance for the poor and disabled. It is called Medicare and Medicaid. Those people who work see these deductions on their paycheck in the under your taxed income portion of the pay stub.

Here is a simple solution to medical reform:

1.) Cap medical malpractice so doctors can lower their premiums.

2.) Reform Medicare and Medicaid. They are using 1930’s thinking and processing, in the 21st century.

3.) If there is a govenment option to healthcare, make the individual who chose it pay the insurance premium, not the general populous or the rich.