X-Message-Number: 2689
From: 
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 04:17:15 EDT
Subject: cryonet.submission SCI.CRYONICS

I have previously forwarded to my friend Larry who is an M.D. a few of the
recent threads on health reform.  Larry has first hand knowledge, because as
some of you may or may not know, Washington State where he is based is the
most advanced state in this matter.  You can reach him at 

Here's what he writes back:

I am sorry but I don't understand this internet lingo; therefore, I give you
my permission, if you are willing to do it, to send or forward my letter
entitled Health Care Reform? to anyone that you think might publish or
otherwise find it useful.  The only thing I must insist on is that you not
reveal who I am or who the author is to anyone, but you may give out my
screen name on AOL as the author. You can say that you are acting as my agent
and that the author, Lawrenc160,  who is a physician on AOL, wants to remain
anonymous. That way you will not misrepresent yourself and you will be
telling the whole truth. You should also say that Lawrenc160 has given
permission to mensabrain to distribute the letter and that if anyone has any
questions, that they should send them to the author, Lawrenc160, who will
respond. 

******
HEALTH CARE REFORM?

I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I just hate the politicians.

Yes I, like many others, believe that they are all crooked. In addressing so
called Health Care Reform, President Clinton is doing nothing more than
trying to shift profits away from the people who more than earn their living,
to bureaucrats and businessmen, for the purpose of saying that this is just
being done as a "good deed" for the nation so that he and his party can take
credit for these so called "good deeds". You see, health care reform will 
not be what you are told. There are hidden agendas. It's not about universal
care or preexisting conditions. That is just a smoke screen. Everyone wants
universal care and elimination of preexisting condition exclusions by
insurers. That can be achieved very easily with simple legislation. It's
what's behind the scenes. It is nothing more than a battle for dollars. 

You see, there are some wealthy individuals and corporations (notably stock
holders and owners of hospital chains, PPO's, HMO's) who are chomping at the
bit in order to get this reform passed so they can profit. If managed care is
mandated, then all physicians will be employed (if you don't see immediately
how this will be done, see below) and then the most influential labor force
providing health care (doctors) will ultimately be exploited so that profits
can be drained from their labor. The insurance industry wants reform also,
but they just don't want to lose out to the government bureaucrats and
hospital chains, so they came up with their now famous anti-reform TV ads.
They want to see premiums up, benefits down, and to continue preexisting
condition exclusions so that they can make more money. But, they too want the
doctors employed so that more dollars will be available to hospitals which
will make more dollars available to them. Instead, Mrs. Clinton tells us that
the insurance industry just does not want reform--not true!!! They just don't
want the Clinton plan, because they won't be a winner, unless they can keep
increasing their premiums and can use preexisting condition exclusions. They
want to continue making contracts with the  hospital chains (like they do
now) but if doctors are employed, they can get a larger piece of the action
because the action will be enlarged.  There are many hospital administrators
whose salaries are going to skyrocket once the reform is passed. It's
beginning to happen already as administrators convince their boards that
their services are becoming more valuable in this wake of reform and dollar
cut backs. The American Hospital Association wants Clinton's package as does
every hospital chain--many more profits for hospitals, less money for the
doctor employees. And most importantly, the chains can decide what and how
the care is delivered to the patient--when a doctor is employed he must do
whatever his employer tells him.  Once that happens, a hospital administrator
can decide who gets the care, how it is delivered, what the care will look
like and what money will be exchanged with insurance companies and how much
profit his organization will take out of it. If he is head of a non profit
organization, then he just increases his and everyone else's salaries and/or
hires more administrator/ bureaucrats to zero out the profit. You see, it is
nothing more than a redistribution of profits promoted in the name of doing a
few good things like universal care and elimination of preexisting
conditions. 

If mandated managed care is passed, no physician may practice medicine
independently. Instead, it will be mandated that he  be "part of" a health
care cooperative. What cooperative's will be available? Hospitals, PPO's,
HMO's each will set up their own cooperatives. And, each cooperative will
have as a condition of participation that if a doctor signs up, he can't be a
member of another cooperative--i.e. it will be a closed staff. The closed
staff does not need to be mandated by law. It will be merely a condition of
contract. After signing the doctors up, the initial contracts will be allowed
to expire and then at the cooperative's first opportunity it will offer
employment to some but not necessarily to all doctors. It especially will
like the doctors who don't provide expensive care. (Never mind whether it is
good care or whether the doctor's specialty cares for very sick people who
need expensive care.) In other words, there will be an incentive for the
employer to tell the physician-employee to withhold care and to employ only
those whose bottom lines are good for the employer. And, the employer may
actually reward the physician-employees who at the end of the year have
provided the least expensive care or no real care at all.

Voila!! Get the cattle in the coral before you slaughter them and sell the
beef for profits. Never mind whether the beef is tainted with E Coli--profits
are the name of the game--just move the beef. Put a little soy bean in the
beef and tell everyone that its beef. And, have a politician tell the public
that everyone will get beef so that the politician can take a bow.

There is fundamentally something wrong or immoral with a party whose premise
is to take earned money from party A, give it to party B who has not earned
it, surreptitiously degrade the otherwise good services originally provided
by party A, and then to take credit for having distributed the services to
all and then profit from the so called "good will" purported to have been
provided to the public.

Sincerely,

a concerned physician

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