"John R. Carroll" wrote:

What is the state portion?


It varies by state but about 12.5 percent.
The real problem, or one of them biggest, is the way the huge pool of
uninsured recieve treatment.
It isn't Medicaid per se.


Thanks John. I did a bit of googling before I saw your response. Before I actually
looked, I'd have thought state portion was much higher. I learned something tonight.


There is a lot of innovation by regional medical centers right now in areas
that have large numbers of uninsured people.
The big players in the San Diego area, for example, are funding treatment
clinics. What you pay at one of those clinics depends on a number of factors
but it's very low. The hospitals give directly and also raise money in order
to keep the case load on their emergency rooms down and at a reasonable
cost. It works and something like this is part of the bill now before
Congress.

Medical care seems to have a non-linear cost vs results relationship.

Some insulin, syringes, and **** strips to check for sugar is fairly cheap and can ward
off having to deal with a going blind diabetic in crisis. I'm using that example because
I kept my dog alive for 16 extra months using fairly inexpensive medicine comprising the
above.

A certain minimal level of care that isn't coming from the emergincy room could save a lot
of money becase at the end, those that can pay, pay for all of it.

The Chips program is one, that while I hate further expansion of government, is a bit hard
for me to be against on the moral level. After all, the kids can't pick their parents.

On another note, but somehow related, part of winning the hearts and minds of every place
we have had our military engaged in a conflict is the Corpsman treating the locals. A lot
of that is pretty inexpensive medicine also that goes a long way. In some cases it helps
to make up for colateral damage that we try to avoid at a huge cost.

Getting back to current events, I still think sweeping change was the wrong way to go. Bit
by bit change, incrementalism, would have been a better plan over the long run.


Wes