KU> `        What has whether or not I care got to do with the histori
 KU> facts of healthcare?  That is the way it was. 
 KU> As for the rest of it...there was demonstrably fewer people withou
 KU> access to resources in the old days. 
 KU> Besides you already have a single payer plan in a large segment of
 KU> the population...elderly. Since at least the 80s, MCare has been l
 KU> enough  to pretty much tell the hospitals what they are going to g
 KU> Yet the  problems we are getting to with Managed Care we have been
 KU> debating at least  since DRGs in the 80s. We have all covered, but
 KU> what is generally  thought of as lousy coverage.
 KU> Single payer ain't gonna do it..governments just can't run these
 KU> types of businesses successfully. One method is MSA or other ways 
 KU> get the  patient involved in making decisions instead of saying I"
 KU> gotta a twinge  and I'll see a doc cause it is covered.
RK>What is MSA? And just what other ways are there to get the patient
RK>involved? 
	Sorry about that...I had thought MSA had already come up in 
this conversation.  I guess when you have 3-4 of these going, you forget 
where you said things.(g).
	MSA-Medical Savings Account. If done properly by the feds, it would
entail your getting a sum of money from employer (or MCare and MCaid) instead 
of a full coverage health insurance. The employer would provide a certain 
amount of cash directly to you and then buy a catastrophic policy with a HUGE 
deductible (say around $3000).  You pay for everything out of your cash 
account and/or pocket (like a deductible) until you reach the deductible. 
	The main difference is that any money left in the account at the 
end of the year is yours to keep (or role over for next year or add to an IRA 
or something similar depending on which plan is actually enacted) usually 
tax-free. 
	The theory is that you will have an incentive to not go to the doctor 
quite as often since there is an opportunity cost now associated with going. 
What you say sounds OK, but not being in the health care
RK>business, Ia'm unfamiliar with some of the acronyms. I think that the
RK>patient is involved with his health care provided by Mcare - at least I
	Involvement in healthcare would include encouraging people to 
find out information on their disease process, how best to treat it, etc. 
Anymore, lots of useful information is easily available at pulic libraries, 
etc. Also, the studies are pretty much unanimous in finding that those who 
take a proactive stance to their disease live longer and have better cure 
rates than those who passively accept their doctors "orders". 
---
 * PW * Real men don't set phasers on stun.
(1:231/875)
---------------