Time to refocus on true causes of high-cost healthcare in U.S., and other letters

As someone who has been in the healthcare industry for more than 30 years, it was refreshing to see the recent editorial on the need for better healthcare journalism.

I very much appreciate the resolution to focus on the true causes as to why healthcare costs in the U.S. are so much higher than any other developed country.

Similar to when Hillary Clinton focused on healthcare reform, costs are moderating (sunlight rule applies to 2013 as it did back in the early 1990s) and there is a lot of positive activity among all players to become more efficient.

The challenge will be whether we can sustain this positive momentum to finally build a more rational and sustainable healthcare system. Perhaps it is not a question of can, since this time we must get it right.

Rich Catalano

So the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is seeking to “fix” the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act now that they've accepted that they can't kill it. If only they and their sponsors were so determined to “fix” healthcare and health insurance in the decades before the ACA was enacted. But perhaps it was all working just fine for them before our representatives in government finally stepped in to make a difference.

Joe McElroy

Regarding the story “AMA fears privacy loss as Medicare moves to reveal doc pay,” in the interest of “transparency” and “full disclosure,” along with physician reimbursement data they should also disclose what it costs to run a practice and keep an office open these days. If physicians were to divide their overhead expenses (malpractice insurance, office rent, salaries and benefits for staff, etc.) by the number of hours they work and compare it to Medicare “reimbursements” for time and services expended, it may dawn on most that taking care of complicated Medicare patients actually works out to a net loss for many physicians. Usually only a small percentage of that reimbursement goes into the doctor's pocket. In many cases, doctors are subsidizing the cost of taking care of many of these patients.

So if the powers that be want to advertise how much doctors are making on Medicare, let's give them the whole story so they can see why Medicare and Medicaid patients are having trouble finding doctors.

Dr. Patrick J. Kelly

Regarding the article “Medical costs, not ACA, blamed most for big insurance hikes so far,” to assert that a combination of the elimination of pre-existing conditions, elimination of maximums, inclusion of additional benefits, egregious taxes, etc., were a minor factor is ludicrous. My personal experience is that my spouse's coverage went from less than $300 a month to almost $600 with double the deductible. Utilization did not double last year. In fact, it was relatively flat for that portion of the plan.

Jerry Bradshaw