America's Health Care Crisis Solved
Description
Preface xiii
Introduction xvii
PART 1 REALITIES
Chapter 1 No Money, No Health Care 3
Who Can Afford to Get Sick? 3
A Helicopter View of Health Care Financing 4
The Good Bad News 5
No More Business as Usual 6
Chapter 2 Why the Money’s Running Out 9
No Room at the Inn 9
Standard Operating Procedure 10
The Motive Is Profit 11
The Problem Is Greed 12
On the Front Lines with Nora Johnson 13
Chapter 3 A New Scarlet Letter 21
A Lady in Red 21
Who Are the Uninsured? 22
The Danger of Secondhand Smoke 23
Injustice for All 23
Chapter 4 Why Nationalized Health Care Is No Cure-All 27
The HMO Idea 27
An Idea Rejected 28
Phoenix Rising? 28
HillaryCare II 29
O Canada 33
The Cost of Inefficiency 35
God Save the Queen 36
Look No Further 37
New York, New York 37
Florida, Here We Come 38
The Evidence Speaks 39
PART II STRATEGIES
Chapter 5 Fair Care 43
Three Keys to Make Fair Care Work 45
Congressional Action 47
Two Crucial Points on Fair Care 48
Fair Care Effect on Employers 48
Fair Care Effect on Employees 48
The State of the Union Proposal 48
Chapter 6 Give Seniors What They Want (and Save Money Doing It): An Innovative Approach to Medicare 51
Part D of Medicare: Prescription Drugs for Seniors 52
The Future of Medicare 53
Defining the Terms 53
Drug Money 54
An Unfunded Mandate 55
A Bureaucratic Snafu 55
Cost Comparison 56
Saving the U.S. Treasury Money 59
How Much Could Our Country Save? 60
Give Seniors What They Want 61
Too Good to Be True? 61
How Much Money in Each Senior’s Hands? 62
Chapter 7 Give Control to Consumers through HSAs 65
Back to the Future 65
One Experience 66
HSAs Today 67
A Quick Overview 67
Health Care Freedom 69
A Dollar-for-Dollar Comparison 70
The Best Interest of the Consumer 70
An IRA on Steroids 72
The Truth Be Told 73
A Word about Family Deductibles 76
Republicans versus Democrats 76
A Legitimate HSA Weakness 79
Three Mistakes Employers Make 79
A Response to Mr. Rangel 81
What Does the Evidence Say? 82
A Side Note 83
What Congress Still Needs to Do 83
Chapter 8 Establish Fair Medical Prices 87
Which Price Tag? 87
What’s a Reasonable Price? 89
What Can We Conclude? 91
How to Defend Yourself against Hospital Harassment 91
What’s a UB-04 or a UB-92? 95
Where to Get the Medicare Information 96
Now You’re a Royal Pain 97
Sounds Good, But Does It Work? 98
Do You Need a Lawyer? 99
The Key to Health Care Reform 99
Chapter 9 Make Medical Prices Transparent: An Innovative Approach to Pricing Health Care 101
Between a Rock and a Hard Place 101
Why Not Be Honest? 102
Cost Reporting 102
Truth Detector 103
Do Hospitals Lose Money on the Uninsured? 103
Who’s Losing Money? 104
Are We Really Too Dumb to Understand? 104
What Needs to Change 105
Legislation Now Pending 106
Medicare Starts to Move 107
And Not Just the Hospitals 107
Chapter 10 Build Risk Pools: An Innovative Approach to Individual Health Insurance 109
New York State of Mind 109
No Picnic in the Garden State 110
Ferrari Pricing 113
One Way to Cope 114
Compassion versus Common Sense 114
Casting the Net 115
Double Incentive 115
The Problem for Small Businesses 117
A Future Answer for Small Businesses 117
A More Immediate Answer 118
List Bill 118
The Rest of the Story 119
Chapter 11 Build a National Marketplace: An Innovative Approach to Individual Health Insurance 121
Do You eBay? 122
Nothing Matters More 122
Roadblocks to Freedom 123
Health Care Choice Act 124
Not in My Backyard 124
An Idea for the People 125
Let’s Get It Done 125
Chapter 12 Make Basic Health Care Cheaper and More Convenient: An Innovative Approach to Health Care Delivery 127
What Is a Quick Care Clinic? 128
The Customer Is King 129
Calling Dr. Nurse 129
“You’ve Got Care” 130
Chapter 13 Do It Right the First Time: An Innovative Approach to Wellness 131
Dr. Paul Ellwood 131
The Right Goal 132
The Right Kind of Competition 132
It Is Your Health 133
Lose the Gatekeepers 133
Get Well Soon 134
Chapter 14 Wrapping It All Up 135
Appendix A Public Testimony of Dr. Gerard Anderson 137
Appendix B Memorandum of Case Law Precedents Showing Hospitals Can Charge Only Reasonable Prices 151
Appendix C An Example of a Legal Complaint against a Hospital for Unreasonable Charges 155
Appendix D Executive Order: Promoting Quality and Efficient Health Care in Federal Government-Administered or -Sponsored Health Care Programs 169
Appendix E S.173, Medicare Savings Account Legislation Introduced by U.S. Senator Inhofe (R-OK) and U.S. Senator DeMint (R-SC) 173
Appendix F The Common Sense Guide to Health Savings Accounts by Roy Ramthun 179
Notes 227
Index 237
"A welcome addition to the literature. Unlike many books written on health care these days, this one provides concrete assistance to real consumers. Pat Rooney and Dan Perrin should be congratulated for taking us to the next level of patient empowerment."--Consumers for Health Care ChoicesDan Perrin is the author of HSA Road Rules, known as the bible of the HSA industry by bankers and insurers. He is President of the HSA Coalition and is widely acknowledged to have been a key player in the passage of every piece of HSA legislation that has made its way through Congress and been signed into law by the President in the last decade. Perrin is one of the nation's top HSA experts and has been quoted on the subject in every major newspaper in the United States.
It's no secret that the health care system in the United States has spiraled so far out of control that many within the country cannot afford the cost. The fact is, health care is all about moneyhow much we spend, where the money comes from, and who controls it.
Nobody understands the challenges this situation presents better than J. Patrick Rooney, former chairman and CEO of Golden Rule Insurance Company, and Dan Perrin, one of the nation's top Health Savings Accounts experts. For nearly two decades, they have worked to inject key market-based solutions into a health care system that has been increasingly supported by government financing, which doesn't seem to be improving the situation. Now, with America's Health Care Crisis Solved, Rooney and Perrin reveal a sensible solution to the difficult dilemma of how to get care for everyone at reasonable costs.
Engaging and informative, this book highlights the major pitfalls of our current health care system and shows why, without changes, health care costs will soon demolish the American economy as well as the opportunity to receive quality care. However, contrary to the increasingly popular idea of a government health plan, the alternative presented by Rooney and Perrin brings the self-interest of you, the American consumer, into the equation.
Rooney and Perrin succinctly explain their innovative plan for reducing the cost of health carewhich includes an approach known as Fair Careand examine how this system will put our government in a better position to effectively finance the health care process. Topics covered include:
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An in-depth look at the essential elements of Fair Care health financing
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Why Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), one of the most effective devices for controlling health care spending, work
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How hospital prices are driving health care inflation in the United States
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How the uninsured can defend themselves from excessive charges
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What it takes to create a national marketplace for health insurance
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A new phenomenon known as quick care clinics, which enable people to get essential medical care without the high price of emergency rooms
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And much more
In the coming years, various financial and political factors will shape the way the American health care system is reformed. Taking the time to understand these issues today can help you as a health care consumer tomorrow. Read America's Health Care Crisis Solved, and discover the practical solutions that can change this systemand your lifefor the better.
Visit us at www.healthcarecrisissolved.com
J. Patrick Rooney is recognized as the pioneer of Medical Savings Accountsnow known as Health Savings Accountsand is the former CEO of Golden Rule Insurance Company for over two decades, building the organization into the largest insurer of individual health insurance policies in the country. Even Paul Elwood, the father of managed care, has acknowledged Rooney's influence, telling Rooney, "we are in the age of the rise of Health Savings Accounts."
Praise for America's Health Care Crisis Solved
"All Presidential candidatesas well as everyone elsemust read this insightful book. Rooney and Perrin brilliantly show how the health care crisis can be positively solved in a way that will give the best of all worldsmore health care at less cost."
Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO, Forbes
"Pat Rooney is the man who came up with the concept of Health Savings Accounts as a way to cut medical costs, give power to medical consumers, and provide health coverage to rich and poor alike without either bankrupting the nation, ruining the best health care available anywhere in the world, or forcing providers and patients alike to dance to the tune of bureaucrats with little empathy for either. This book analyzes the health care 'crisis' so much on the lips of politicians these days and provides a solution that reasonable people should ponder as they work their way through the overheated and often wrong-headed solutions advanced by leading politicians of both parties."
David A. Keene, Chairman, The American Conservative Union
"Rooney and Perrin have changed the course of health care in the United States, and they did it by bringing Americans the best tax break in the code: tax-free deposits, tax-free withdrawals, and tax-free interestin the form of Health Savings Accounts. Anyone who is going to be involved in the second great health care debate (the first being HillaryCare) should read this very readable book."
Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
"J. Patrick Rooney and Dan Perrin know that much of what we call the health care 'crisis' would go away if we transferred direct control over the flow of health care dollars from big institutions to individuals and families. How? Enact a refundable health care tax credit for every American; introduce medical savings accounts into Medicare; and make health care prices, especially in hospitals, transparent. An excellent, hands-on guide for consumers and voters, this book comes just in time for the 2008 Presidential elections."
Edwin J. Feulner, PhD, President, The Heritage Foundation
"It has been an open secret inside the Washington DC beltway that Rooney and Perrin have been working hand and glove to change health care policy for the last 20 years. They succeeded where some very smart and powerful people have failed. Whether you are a GOP or Democratic or independent voter, this book will help you to understand, in detail, the coming health care debate."--Scott W. Reed, Republican Strategist and Former Presidential Campaign Manager for Bob Dole
"Pat Rooney and Dan Perrin have already significantly changed the course of health care in the United States through Health Savings Accounts that put consumers and their physicians back in charge of their health care. America’s Health Care Crisis Solved is a must-read book, regardless of whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. This important book explains health care policy problems and reform in language that everyone can understand. It will provide insight into the coming health care debate leading up to the next Presidential election, and more importantly, in Congress after theelection."-->Roy Ramthun, formerly the senior health policy advisor to President George W. Bush regarding health care issues, and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for health initiatives
"Rooney and Perrin have written a first-rate, easily-readable book on the current health care crisis and provide a rational solution that does not bust the Treasury (or increase current spending!)--but they have even topped their own policy prescriptions with a commonsense set of tips to survive the crisis during the time it will take for our timid politicians to screw up the courage to adopt their conclusions."--Dr. Donald J. Devine, former director, Office of Personnel Management (the U.S. civil service), 1981-1985
Another major effort to reform the U.S. health care system is in the political wind, and we can only hope that those who want to make educated decisions about the ways to change the system will read this book. Rooney and Perrin reccomend changes with an eye towards reinvigorating personal initiative instead of constantly watering the entitlement tree. They just may save the system for our grandchildren before the baby boomers spend it all on themselves. --J. Kevin A. McKechnie
Staff Director, The HSA Council, part of the American Bankers Association
"Rooney and Perrin have accurately predicted every major trend in healthcare over the last several decades. In America's Healthcare Crisis Solved they do it again by attacking the healthcare problem with innovative solutions. It should be on the desk of every policymaker, and is a must-read for anyone interested in addressing the problems in America’s healthcare system."--Ed Corrigan
Executive Director, United States Senate Steering Committee
PUBLISHER:
Wiley
ISBN-13:
9780470275726
BINDING:
Hardback
BISAC:
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
BOOK DIMENSIONS:
Dimensions: 160.00(W) x Dimensions: 238.80(H) x Dimensions: 25.40(D)
AUDIENCE TYPE:
General/Adult
LANGUAGE:
English