Editorial: Payment is key in health care reform

Editorial: Payment is key in health care reform I still wonder how much the media is in bed with insurance companies. I wonder if they have been bought off the way elected officials have. This editorial misses the main problem with our payment system.
Reform in the payment system is critical. Actually, it is so simple that most don't see it. Remove the insurance companies from the system. We can't seem to believe that you don't have to have employer based access to coverage and that you don't have to have a profit driven, high admin. cost, red tape filled insurance industry controlling cost and access. Imagine a world where access to health care does not depend on where you work. Imagine a doctor or hospital office where you don't have to deal with 500 different payment sources with all different forms and procedures. Imagine a world without co-pays, deductibles or premiums that depend on where you live and your health history. You have now imagined a world without the insurance industry sticking their nose in between you and your health care providers. You have imagined a world that will cost 30% less by removing the $ that go to feed the middle man. Providing access to all and equalizing payment rates can be done with that 30%. If we try to cover all with new insurance policies by paying the insurance companies to cover the uninsured, we will not be able to afford it. The only way is to kick out the middle man. Have one source of payment and put hospitals on a budget based reimbursement system instead of fee for service and we can afford real reform. Without payment reform like that all we will do is feed the insurance monster.