Well, for certain values of efficient. Medicare is cheap because it's legislated so. The system works in such a fashion as to *cause* some of the problems with inflated pricing. Medicare pays a fixed percentage of the "normal" price for a given procedure. By law, a doctor/hospital/other provider CANNOT offer any discounts to everyday people, but *can* offer discounts to group plans (though I don't know what, if any, group size is required to allow that). In other words, in order for medical professionals to make money in the world of Medicare, they *must* set their prices so that the "Medicare price" will pay their bills. This jacks up the price for anyone paying out of hand, and for insurers, though the insurers can, and do, negotiate lower pricing (but I bet it's not as low as Medicare's!).
As to the efficiency side of things...I guess I shouldn't complain too much, as StukaSpouse is currently making pretty good money just managing all the paperwork required for the Medicare patients at the nursing home she works for. That's a *ton* of paperwork, all going to verify that all things are being done per regulation. She's a highly qualified nurse, and having her do all that paperwork prevents her from doing what she'd rather, in all honesty, be doing - taking care of the patients.
So yeah, it's cheap - but it screws the rest of us in being so. And it's efficient - no, it's not at all. The regulations and paperworks are pulling qualified medical people (because the less-qualified ain't bright enough to DO the job!) away from the jobs they *need* to be doing, which is taking care of the sick. |
