Finally: Common Sense Solutions To Health Care Insurance From Business Week

By George Gombossy | Last updated Nov 16, 2009, 12:26 am

Business Week Nov 23

Business Week is the last place many would consider looking for common sense ideas what we can do NOW to solve the Health Care crisis.

But as a loyal reader of Business Week it is exactly the place I export such insightful, no punches pulled, advice and research.

The Nov. 23 issue of BW is a must buy if you care about health insurance. It is filled with excellent points on how we waste one third to one half of the money we pay on health care and what we can do about it.

If we just save one healf of the estimated $700 hundreds billions of wasted dollars annually, we could provide great coverage for the 40 some million uninsured.

Here are were we waste our money (from BW reporter Catherine Arnst and from me): unnecessary treatments, redundant tests, fraud, errors, promoting unhealthy food for children and adults on television, providing alternatives to hospital emergency rooms for minor ailments, promote stress reducing technique, clearly label expensive medicine that has little benefit over generic benefit, make patients pay for expensive procedures and medicine that has not been proven to be more effective than cheaper version, enact criminal penalties for drug companies and researchers who fail to disclose all conflicts of interests, and reduce competing expensive procedures nearby hospitals offer. Encourage more primary physicians and eliminating all medical school costs. Boost the number of nurse practitioners and physicians assistants. Encourage more walk-in clinics.

Lack of emphasis on promoting healthy lifestyles in schools and in the workplace. Lack of progress in reducing dangerous hospital infections. Cut insurance costs for those who live healthy lifestyles and jack up insurance for those who don’t

There are a lot more. This is where the debate should focus on. This is where the low hanging fruit is.