7/22/2009

There are other ways than higher taxes to pay for health care reform

A couple of items in Tuesday's edition are worth noting as we await the cobbling together of the Obama administration's health care plan:

n Too often those caterwauling about Government Gone Wild don't offer a sensible alternative as much as a list of how the government better can serve them,or how to get it off their backs. Not so Dr. George Watson, a Park City physician who's already implemented his better idea.

"I opted out of Medicare and canceled all insurance contracts," Watson told the Journal's Michael Strand. "It's the government and insurance companies who need to get out of medicine."

Watson says the best reform would be for patients -- instead of an employer -- to own their own insurance plan and to have a transparent financial stake in their health care. When that happens, costs will tumble. Intriguing.

To learn more, take in Watson's talk at 7 p.m. Thursday at Salina Heights Christian Church, 801 E. Cloud.

n Remember when you were young and, say, broke a neighbor's window with a poorly thrown baseball, and Mom made you go next door and say "I'm sorry"? The people at the University of Michigan Health System remember that lesson.

They've found that when they make a mistake, instead of going into bunker mode, if they admit the mistake, tell the patient they're sorry, and offer compensation before being sued, they save money.

For example, malpractice claims against the health system fell from 121 in 2001 to 61 in 2006.

"What we're doing is common decency," said a lawyer with the health system.

Who (besides Mom) knew that telling the truth was the right thing to do?

The costs of malpractice claims in the U.S. is estimated at $5.8 billion. Here's one way to lower them.

What these two workable examples of lowering health care costs have in common is they were done without government intervention and they require some personal responsibility of those involved. Would they work on a national scale? Who knows?

But as we barrel toward implementing a health care future we probably can't afford and won't be happy with, these and other alternative plans certainly are worth considering.

-- Ben Wearing

Executive Editor

822-1421

bwearing@salina.com

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