Having fun with Ted Kennedy’s speech — Health Care inanity edition
In one amusing part of his speech to the National Press Club, Ted Kennedy, heir to a family fortune who never worked a day in his life at a real job, has this to say:
32 cents out of every health dollar is nonclinical. There isn’t a business that’s represented here, or a businessman that’s watching this program, that could possibly believe that. Maybe they have 10 or 12 cents in terms of administrative costs or in terms of business costs — 33 cents? If you bring this — we have a 21st century health care system and a 19th century accounting processing system. And if we bring that 33 cents down to 27 cents, we save $110 billion a year. That isn’t just my estimate. That’s the Institute of Medicine that’s saying we are wasting $400 billion a year.
32 cents doesn’t sound that large to me, but hey, what do I know, I just run a business. I suppose Senator Kennedy thinks that the executives are throwing parties or going to Barbados with the 20 cents he majesterially offers to save on behalf of the little guy. But let’s look at his source, the Institute of Medicine. Who the heck are they? It turns out that they are “adviser to the nation:”
The nation turns to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies for science-based advice on matters of biomedical science, medicine, and health. A nonprofit organization specifically created for this purpose as well as an honorific membership organization, the IOM was chartered in 1970 as a component of the National Academy of Sciences. The Institute provides a vital service by working outside the framework of government to ensure scientifically informed analysis and independent guidance. The IOM’s mission is to serve as adviser to the nation to improve health.
Where would we be without them producing reports like this:
Research increasingly shows a link between physical activity and the “built” environment — buildings, roads, parks, and other structures that physically define a community — but more research is needed to assess whether the built environment affects people’s actual levels of physical activity, says a new report from the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board and Institute of Medicine. This additional research could help clarify whether and to what extent the physical environment where Americans live and work contributes to the fact that more than half of the U.S. adult population falls short of meeting the U.S. surgeon general’s guidelines for physical activity, said the committee that wrote the report.
Dopey, eh? And a waste of money. But harmless. Thyey do research that issues results calling for more research, on silly, harmless topics. But not so harmless are some of the policy recommendations of this taxpayer-funded bunch, such as this report on insurance, which posits the following:
1) Health care coverage should be universal.
2) Health care coverage should be continuous.
3) Health care coverage should be affordable to individuals and families.
4) The health insurance strategy should be affordable and sustainable for society.
5) Health insurance should enhance health and well-being by promoting access to high-quality care that is effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.
Well, well, quite an agenda this think tank has. I hope you’re glad to be paying for it. But back to the 32 cents, the outrageously high amount of every healthcare dollar not spent on clinical matters. Apparently health care businesses are wasting $110 billion a year on boondoggles, not on patients. We need to save money by cutting out expenses that are not going into patient care! Here’s a useful first place to start:
