NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON HEALTH POLICY/CANADIAN HEALTH SYSTEM VS U.S. HEALTH SYSTEM

CANADA’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS MORE LIKE YOURS THAN YOU THINK

“Socialized medicine is a misnomer,” says Dr. Alan Goldbloom, CEO of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, who practiced in Toronto for many years before coming to Minneapolis in 2003. “Canada has socialized health insurance, but most Canadian doctors do not work for the government.” In addition, Canadians have free choice of doctors and hospitals. Neither the governments nor the insurers dictate choices or require “prior approvals” as in the U.S. “Health bureaucracy in the U.S. is an industry itself, its…regulatory complexity is hundreds of time greater than anything in Canada,” swears Dr. Goldbloom.

The U.S. spends $7,290 per capita on health care vs. $3,895 in Canada. Both countries ration care, but the U.S. does it on the basis of economic status or insurability whereas in Canada it is strictly on the urgency of medical need. “The great joy of practicing in Canada,” says Goldbloom, “is I never had to even consider whether any family could afford the care I was recommending.” Much as Canadians demand improvements in their system, “they would never give up universal health insurance.” It’s a fundamental right of Canadian citizenship.

Commentary from Dave Durenberger


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MEDICARE INFORMATION RE: MINNESOTA FOLKS

Subject: Fast Facts for Minnesota in 2011 for Medicare Health and Drug plans
2011 Medicare Health and Drug Plans in Minnesota
Fast Facts for Minnesota in 2011

• 33 Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) available

• 89% of people with Medicare have prescription drug coverage (including 68% with Part D)

• 26% of people with Part D get Extra Help (also called the low-income subsidy, or LIS)

• 92% of people with Part D can pay a lower premium in 2011 than they did in 2010

• 83% of people with Medicare have access to a MA plan for a $0 premium

• 13 PDPs have $0 deductibles

• $14.80 is the lowest monthly premium for a PDP

• $36.30 is the lowest monthly premium for a PDP with any generic coverage in the Coverage Gap

• 10 PDPs have a premium of $0 for people who qualify for Extra Help

Plan costs and coverage change each year, so all people with Medicare should check to make sure their plan still meets their needs and budget. There may be a Medicare health or drug plan available with better coverage or a lower deductible in 2011.
Important Dates in 2011
October

• Watch your mail for notices from Medicare, Social Security, and health and drug plans with information about changes in 2011

• Compare plans online at www.medicare.gov starting October 15

November

• “Medicare & You” 2011 arrives in your mail

• Open Enrollment starts November 15

December

• Open Enrollment ends December 31


All people with Medicare should:

• Review the 2011 costs and coverage of their current plans

• Compare with other plans in their area

• Choose a plan that meets their needs and budget

From Dr. Tor Dahl

Economists estimate that eighty percent of all capital is human capital. Those employers who view workers only as cost items miss out on the contributions of human capital and work experience that go out the door with layoffs and firings. Also - and notably - they lose out on the potential cooperation of employees if those employees associate productivity improvement with loss of jobs. Productive companies grow. They don't lay off workers. Productive companies invest in their human capital the training and education which will be needed for the challenge represented by new growth. This is what made it possible for Google to go from zero to more than $150 billion in market value in only six years. Some eighty percent of the U.S. economy belongs to the knowledge sector

to go to our website WWW.TORDAHL.COM

"WISE OLD MAN" REVISITED

The 'Wise Old Man" is enjoyable to visit, based not on his intellect but his 'wisdom' of living life, observing, and sharing his thoughts of history and what we can learn from the lessons of history.

A few of his recent comments:

A French writer once wrote (not an exact quote) 'The success of America is not due to competition but to cooperation.' We now have political strategy to not cooperate - to work against democratic or republican party ideology - so the other party doesn't look good. The behavior is encouraged even if it is not in the best interest of the people (or America).

We pay the lowest personal taxes of any developed nation. Warren Buffet, one of the top BILLIONAIRES, states he pays less taxes than his secretary, and he should pay more. Tax breaks for the wealthy are not extended down to the middle class.

GREED is permeating society. It appears the more money one earns, the more one wants and if the rules have to bend a bit for ones success, so be it. The growth of America can be traced to the middle class. Unfortunately, we are shrinking the middle class.

It is interesting to me the number of 'blue collar' workers and the number of 'union' workers who have earned a high standard of living level over the last 40 years, due in part to their parents and brothers and sisters-have forgotten their roots. They take the position that if 'those people" want to enjoy a higher standard of living, they should work hard, like I did....They need to remember their roots, how they were helped and that "those people' need a friendly hand to help them. Our economy is moving into the 'knowledge economy." The blue collar and union workers who were born into a strong, thriving economy but have been negatively affected by the down turn, will not be able to recover without understanding the global impact of a knowledge economy. Let's hope they learn and make education for their children the top three priorities: 1) education, 2) education, and 3) education

People should read the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. We make recognize the behavior of our elected national leaders, our continual need for improved highways systems, and sports stadiums (gladiator arenas?) is similar today as it was during the fall of the Roman Empire. Perhaps we are in the midst of a 30 or 40 year decline. That should scare people and want them to work together for the good of the county.

Perhaps we can visit again with the "Wise Old Man" in a few months, and we will learn, if we listen.

MEDICAL TOURISM

can't afford surgery in the U.S.,' says bargain shopper
By Sabriya Rice, CNN
cnnAuthor = "By Sabriya Rice, CNN";



Shopping for cheap surgery

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The majority of medical tourists are uninsured
About 878,000 Americans will travel internationally for a medical procedure this year
Travelers should research the legal system of the country they are visiting
Patients should make sure overseas hospital they're considering is accredited
See more on the risks of doctors and patients shopping for the lowest prices for health care on American Morning's series "Prescription for Waste" tomorrow 6 a.m. ET
(CNN) -- When Godfrey Davies learned he needed surgery to remove polyps blocking his nasal airways, the self-described bargain shopper set out on a mission to find an affordable surgeon. He quickly learned a good deal is hard to find.
"The total numbers they were throwing at me were just incredible. I couldn't believe it," he says.
Davies, who is semiretired from his real estate business and uninsured, says he received estimates from two surgeons. When hospital, anesthesia and incidental fees were all tallied, the cheapest price he could find in Indianapolis, Indiana, was $33,127 -- which he would need to pay out of pocket.
"I was speechless." Davies recalls. "It was absolutely out of the question financially for me to have this done under those circumstances."
Frustrated that his bargain shopping saved him so little, Davies called on family in the United Kingdom for assistance. When they told him they had found a private hospital in Wales that would perform the surgery for $2,930 [or £1,897], Davies didn't think twice.
He purchased a $768 round-trip ticket, and on March 18, he boarded a flight to the UK to have his polyps removed there at a savings of nearly $30,000.
Medical tourism on the rise
An estimated 878,000 Americans will travel internationally for a medical procedure this year, according to a report from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. That number is expected to nearly double by 2012.
The majority of medical tourists are uninsured; however, the cost of health care in this country has become so expensive that even some U.S. health insurance companies are coordinating with hospitals overseas.
"It is curious to a number of folks as to why an established American health insurance company would be interested in medical tourism," says David Boucher, president of Companion Global Healthcare, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield.
His pilot program launched in 2007 as a "medical travel facilitator," allowing participating employers to add an international option to the health care plans they offer to staff. The company has partnered with 29 hospitals in 14 countries and offers negotiated rates that are lower than those offered at hospitals domestically.
Boucher says employers will sometimes waive co-pays or purchase airline tickets if an individual opts to travel abroad for expensive surgery because, ultimately, it benefits everyone.
"If you can save forty to fifty thousand on an employee's surgery, it gets right to the company's bottom line," Boucher says.
Sound off: Share your health care horror stories with us
So far, only a handful of insurance companies are offering this type of service, says Jessica Johnson, director of operations for the Medical Tourism Association, an international trade organization that acts as a liaison between patients and their international providers.

Travel and Tourism
She says even with insurance though, many Americans remain underinsured, so more people are educating themselves on the options.
"It's all about affordability, quality and access," Johnson says. "Something they don't find as often here."
See this chart for price comparisons of standard procedures in the U.S. versus the prices overseas.
Before you hop on a plane
Sure, the prices are affordable. But is it safe? Experts say before you hop on a plane, there are a few important things to take into consideration.
1. Know your legal rights
"Each country has a different legal system," points out Nathan Cortez, assistant law professor at Southern Methodist University and author of a 2009 study looking at the legal risks of medical tourism.
"If something goes wrong, you don't have the same legal recourse as you have in the United States."
He advises travelers to research the legal system of the country they are visiting and at least be familiar with what their rights are if something goes wrong.
"In some countries, there are structural disadvantages to bringing about a lawsuit," he explains. "For example, if you sue a physician in Singapore and lose the case, you may have to pay the physician's legal fees."
Cortez also says to make sure that you will be able to access and bring back your medical records from the hospital you visited.
2. Make sure the hospital is accredited
Here's a list of hospitals accredited through the Joint Commission International. The joint commission inspects facilities to make sure they meet the necessary standards.
3. Negotiate locally one more time
"It's a real issue with the economics of health care," says Derek Fitteron, president and of the group Medical Cost Advocate. "But people can make it economically work by staying in the U.S."
He says his group has helped to bargain down prices for many people who want to find affordable care in their own ZIP code. When Fitteron's team investigated the cost of the procedure Godfrey Davies underwent, for example, they found that on the high end, the price should have been no more than about $17,850 in his state.
When CNN contacted the hospital about Davies' case, officials agreed.
"We inadvertently provided an incorrect quote for the consumer," a hospital spokesman wrote in an e-mail. "The actual procedure price was less than half of what we initially quoted."
Fitteron says self-pay patients are "getting really aggressively overcharged," as hospitals are trying to subsidize for money lost on things such as Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
Davies, who is originally from Wales and has been a U.S. citizen since 2002, says he was disappointed about having to travel more than 4,200 miles for such a simple procedure. But ultimately money was the deciding factor.
"$33,000 versus $3,600 ... I can put up with a lot of inconvenience to save that kind of money."

Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011

http://www.bls.gov/oco/

JUST A THOUGHT

45,000 people die each year because they do not have health insurance. If 45,000 soldiers were killed each year Iraq, we would have a revolt.