Job report August: ZERO JOBS created

-512,000 (federal + state + local) government jobs in last 18 months. Originally Posted by N6_in_the_village

I wonder what the breakdown on this would be if you looked at state and local gov jobs vs. federal gov jobs.

TXSwing gets it? "Reduce health care costs" Brilliant! Ok, how? Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Well, reducing healthcare cost is not that difficult if you understand that the whole industry is not market-driven and functions largely as a cartel...in the classic economic sense. A fast way would use laws and regulation to remove those incentives that "protect" the industry from solid market competition.

Here is a couple of remedies that can start the ball rolling:

1) Allow Medicare and the Military to negotiate healthcare costs and drug prices - Congress today explicitly disallows this. As both of these public sectors represent a large amount of number of consumers and their contracts are public, the resulting negotiated terms should be very competitive. And -- since the terms are public -- will be the basis for other companies to negotiate competitive prices. Some economist believe this single act would reduce costs in Healthcare across the country by 40% in a single year.

2) Public ratings for insurance companies and healthcare providers - If you invest in mutual funds today, you might make your buying decision based on a low management expense ratio; that is, how much money in the fund is spent on investments vs. management expenses. Healthcare companies today have extremely high management expense ratios; as much as a reported 61.2%. Regulation to ensure that all healthcare insurance and providers publish a management expense ratio would allow consumers to make a choice...whether 60-cents of every $1 spent should go to company or to serve your needs.

3) Require all insurance-to-provider payments occur within 45 days - If you provide a product or service and it takes 60+ days for you to get paid, then you do the only reasonable thing...you increase the price. Due to insurance company rules and additional procedure, a doctor today has to wait as much as 6 months to get paid for your visit today. If healthcare providers get paid in a reasonable timeframe, they will reduce their prices.

As far as i'm concerned these are the easy remedies and some sound math suggests that these alone can reduce healthcare costs significantly in a single year.

And, thank you, i do get it...sometimes 'cause i'm cute, occasionally 'cause i'm charming, and every now and again 'cause i bring enough cash!

-T

Anyone with the handle txswing must be a Bob Wills fan, and by definition, not all that bad. I actually agree with you on the healthcare reform.

Well, reducing healthcare cost is not that difficult if you understand that the whole industry is not market-driven and functions largely as a cartel...in the classic economic sense. A fast way would use laws and regulation to remove those incentives that "protect" the industry from solid market competition.

Here is a couple of remedies that can start the ball rolling:

1) Allow Medicare and the Military to negotiate healthcare costs and drug prices - Congress today explicitly disallows this. As both of these public sectors represent a large amount of number of consumers and their contracts are public, the resulting negotiated terms should be very competitive. And -- since the terms are public -- will be the basis for other companies to negotiate competitive prices. Some economist believe this single act would reduce costs in Healthcare across the country by 40% in a single year.

2) Public ratings for insurance companies and healthcare providers - If you invest in mutual funds today, you might make your buying decision based on a low management expense ratio; that is, how much money in the fund is spent on investments vs. management expenses. Healthcare companies today have extremely high management expense ratios; as much as a reported 61.2%. Regulation to ensure that all healthcare insurance and providers publish a management expense ratio would allow consumers to make a choice...whether 60-cents of every $1 spent should go to company or to serve your needs.

3) Require all insurance-to-provider payments occur within 45 days - If you provide a product or service and it takes 60+ days for you to get paid, then you do the only reasonable thing...you increase the price. Due to insurance company rules and additional procedure, a doctor today has to wait as much as 6 months to get paid for your visit today. If healthcare providers get paid in a reasonable timeframe, they will reduce their prices.

As far as i'm concerned these are the easy remedies and some sound math suggests that these alone can reduce healthcare costs significantly in a single year.

And, thank you, i do get it...sometimes 'cause i'm cute, occasionally 'cause i'm charming, and every now and again 'cause i bring enough cash!

-T Originally Posted by txswing99

Excellent ideas!

Damn, I agree with I B agreeing




.

Well, reducing healthcare cost is not that difficult if you understand that the whole industry is not market-driven and functions largely as a cartel...in the classic economic sense. A fast way would use laws and regulation to remove those incentives that "protect" the industry from solid market competition.

Here is a couple of remedies that can start the ball rolling:

1) Allow Medicare and the Military to negotiate healthcare costs and drug prices - Congress today explicitly disallows this. As both of these public sectors represent a large amount of number of consumers and their contracts are public, the resulting negotiated terms should be very competitive. And -- since the terms are public -- will be the basis for other companies to negotiate competitive prices. Some economist believe this single act would reduce costs in Healthcare across the country by 40% in a single year.

2) Public ratings for insurance companies and healthcare providers - If you invest in mutual funds today, you might make your buying decision based on a low management expense ratio; that is, how much money in the fund is spent on investments vs. management expenses. Healthcare companies today have extremely high management expense ratios; as much as a reported 61.2%. Regulation to ensure that all healthcare insurance and providers publish a management expense ratio would allow consumers to make a choice...whether 60-cents of every $1 spent should go to company or to serve your needs.

3) Require all insurance-to-provider payments occur within 45 days - If you provide a product or service and it takes 60+ days for you to get paid, then you do the only reasonable thing...you increase the price. Due to insurance company rules and additional procedure, a doctor today has to wait as much as 6 months to get paid for your visit today. If healthcare providers get paid in a reasonable timeframe, they will reduce their prices.

As far as i'm concerned these are the easy remedies and some sound math suggests that these alone can reduce healthcare costs significantly in a single year.

And, thank you, i do get it...sometimes 'cause i'm cute, occasionally 'cause i'm charming, and every now and again 'cause i bring enough cash!

-T Originally Posted by txswing99

Those are a good start. Add the following:

Allow insurance to be sold across state lines.

Focus on high deductable insurance with a Healthcare Savings Account.

Enable creative lowcost healthcare alternatives. The free market will create these if government gets out of the way.