This is a BIG problem, I know. If we had universal healthcare, the incentives would be to treat, not to save money:
NEW YORK, Apr 19, 2008 (The Charlotte Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — – A leading group of occupational doctors is taking the unusual step of speaking out publicly against pressure from companies to downplay workplace injuries.
To outline their concerns, the physicians have sent a letter to federal workplace safety regulators and held a conference session in New York City on Monday. They’re also planning to testify before Congress.
If successful, their campaign could affect the treatment of injured workers and might help change how the government assesses workplace safety.
“Our members feel they are being methodically pressured … to under-treat and mistreat,” said Dr. Robert McLellan, president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. “…This is a grave ethical concern for our members. It’s a grave medical concern.”
Sadly, no surprise. My HMO is actually decent (so far), but my doctor still works treatment around what the plan will cover. Yet conservatives rant about how the horrible government will dictate care under UHC. You go figure.
A friend was just denied coverage for carpal tunnel surgery under the company’s workman’s comp plan. I was cut off before they had actually found out what was wrong with my wrists. I’m glad doctors are speaking out, and getting attention for it.
The incentive wouldn’t be just to treat, we could actually concentrate on preventative measures. Which would be so much more efficient that we wouldn’t have to spend more money per patient than any other country on the entire planet.
Here in Colorado the occupational doctors are essentially (though not literally) the employees of the worker’s compensation insurance companies. They don’t need any incentive to downplay work-related injuries. That’s what they do for a living. The answer is to give the employee a choice of doctor — assuming no universal health care, which of course would be a much better answer.
Sorta on topic: WashPo headline: Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women.
for about “12 percent of the nation’s women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s”
sorry I don’t know how to embed this freakin’ long link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/21/AR2008042102406_pf.html