David and Goliath
According to Dr. Donald M. Berwick, who President Obama temporarily assigned as head the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): ``Much is done that does not help patients at all, and many physicians know it``. Berwick also says that this translates into a lot of unnecessary spending--approximately 20 to 30 percent in federal health spending that can be cut; this is the equivalent to between $150 billion to $250 billion a year that Medicare and Medicaid can save. The Medicare and Medicaid services deficits could also stem from the alleged practices of Quest Diagnostic, LabCorp and also United Healthcare.
Right now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is trying to juggle finances in order to allocate and manage billions of dollars that will eventually be implemented into the Affordable Care Act--even as the debate rages on. Obama`s healthcare act is being brought in front of the Supreme Court sometime in 2012 to judge the nature of its constitutionality. The Office of Inspector General seems to agree with Berwick, urging hospitals and healthcare providers to look into this oversight, as well as becoming more regimented in the enforcement of rules in the effort to cut overspending.
As reported by the New York Times, Berwick listed five reasons for the waste: ``overtreatment of patients, the failure to coordinate care, the administrative complexity of the health care system, burdensome rules and fraud``.