(picture taken from nytimes.com)
There are now two groups of Senators who are trying to figure out if this new health plan is going to be able to slow the crazy health care costs down for the federal government and for the average American. One group of Senators contains Susan Collins (Maine Republican), Joseph Lieberman (Connecticut Independent), and Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania Democrat). The three apparently have apparently boasted their title as “Tri-Partisan”. (how clever haha) One issue they are trying to tackle is the spending that takes place because of infection people during hospital stays. They bring to our attention that most of these infections are avoidable and that they are costing lots of money to keep these people who become sick with these infections in the hospital for a longer period of time.
“An estimated 1.7 million Americans become ill each year as a result of a hospital-acquired infection,” Ms. Collins said. “Annually, 99,000 Americans died from these infections. These infections are also costly. They extend hospital stays by more than eight days and increase costs by approximately $30 billion per year. That is simply unacceptable.” (nytimes.com)
Susan Collins says that the “Tri-Partisan” amendments would save the government $8 billion over ten years. Doesn’t sound too shabby huh? The second group of Senators is made up of freshman Democratic Senators who have also prepared a package of amendments that they feel will be cost effective. One of their proposals is that there should be a new independent commission created that will be responsible for identifying potential savings in Medicare, also be directed to look at the overall health care system, and to make recommendations for voluntary steps that could be taken by doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers in order to lower costs. (nytimes.com) I believe both groups of Senators will figure out some pretty wise ways in which the cost can be contained in an effective and organized way. What do you think? Do you have any of your own personal suggestions on how some of this cost could be contained? Until next time…
