Pharmacy Fund

Speaking of Spin Doctoring, here is a really nifty piece of spin that we see quite often on TV.

I’m sure we’ve all seen and heard the ads for the drug companies – “if you cannot afford your prescription, Pharmaglomorate Labs may be able to help.” Brings a tear to my eye every time.

Aren’t they so wonderful? So charitable? So full of compassion for the little man?

But then I remember my little lesson on Star Trek Economics.

What the ads should say is “if you cannot afford your prescription, Pharmaglomorate Labs may be able to give you this stuff for free – we’ll just mark up the price to everyone else! They have insurance – they won’t care, or even notice until their rates go up again next year!”

So, the pharmaceutical companies aren’t really the charitable ones here – it’s really you and me.

Aren’t we so wonderful? So charitable? So full of compassion for the little man?

Whether we wanted to or not, we gave at the Pharmacy. Too bad the Pharmaceutical companies are the ones that get the good press – and the tax write-offs.



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A Tale of Two Cities

I remember a surprising amount of things from my childhood, especially if they were special days and events in my life. One of my earliest clear memories has to do with kindergarten. I remember the first day – all of those new faces standing with their mothers. Some of them crying – others dancing with excitement and anticipation.


I remember the playground games, the big red pencils and nap time. And I remember the milk. 8 fluid ounces of cold goodness in those wax-coated containers. Kindergarten milk taught me a very hard lesson at an early age. It was because of kindergarten milk that I learned that we did not live in a classless society. Karl Marx would have made quite an example of the milk distribution in my kindergarten.

Milk came to us in cool metal wire crates, and it came in 2 classes. There was the plain milk and the chocolate milk. As I recall, the plain milk set my parents back a nickel, while the chocolate variety sold for a whole 7 cents a pop. Oh, those lucky few that got the chocolate milk – how I envied them. To a 5 year old boy with a carton of plain milk, the brown tinted Chocolate milk carton was like the Holy Grail.

It was not the economics of the situation that frustrated me. My dear parents gave me my 25 cents milk money dutifully every week, but conjuring up the extra dime each week for the chocolate variety was seen as wasteful to them – those were different leaner days.

I realize now that, even though I did not get what I wanted – chocolate milk - I did get what I truly needed – all the calcium and nutrition in my plain milk that my growing body needed. The content of the milk was what was truly important – not the luxury of the delivery system.

Which brings us to the subject of one of the most sacred cows in healthcare – equality.

Many people in health care will scream and yell that no one should be denied health care in this country – and I will generally agree with that statement. However, that does not mean that everyone should have access to the same health care delivery system.

If we are to provide health care for uninsured Americans, and in doing so, not bankrupt the country, perhaps we may need to start looking at new ways of delivering that health care in a more cost-effective fashion.

Perhaps.

Perhaps the uninsured might have to go to a free or reduced-fee clinic for their health care instead of a private practice.. Perhaps they might not see a doctor initially, but instead must first see a nurse, nurse-practitioner, or physician’s assistant. Perhaps they might have to sign a liability waiver before receiving this free or reduced-cost care. Perhaps they might be limited to receiving prescriptions for generic drugs, when such drugs are deemed appropriate. Perhaps they may have to wait longer to see a provider, and not have the luxury of an appointment. If they were to require hospitalization for a non-communicative condition, perhaps they should be interred in an open ward instead of a semi-private room. The bottom line is, they might have to deal with a no frills, lower-overhead practice in order to receive their free or reduced cost care.

Like that kindergartner, they may just have to deal with the fact that we do not live in a classless society, but nonetheless, everybody still gets what they really need. With or without chocolare syrup.


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Safecrackers

Jewelry? Cash? Why not your Prescription drugs?

Cost of 90 day supply

LIPITOR 80 MG TABLET 398.00 – 515.00
NEXIUM 40 MG CAPSULE 548.00 – 666.00
LEXAPRO 20 MG TABLET 344.00
SINGULAIR 10 MG TABLET CHEW 398.00 – 432.00
FLOMAX 0.4 MG CAPSULE SA 369.00 – 483.00
LUNESTA 3 MG TABLET 575.00 – 717.00

Here’s another great business opportunity – medicine cabinets with combination locks!


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Fun with Math

Here is an interesting tidbit – the AVERAGE TV commercial aired on a nationwide network costs $100,000.00 to air. Wow.

Now, think of all those commercials you see for prescription drugs.

How many 30 second drug commercials do we see during a ½ hour show? I guesstimate that it’s at least 2, but let’s just call it 1.

So – fun with Math:

1 prescription drug commercials every ½ hour

Times

18 hours a day of airtime (let’s be conservative)

Times

20 Nationwide Television Networks (Let’s ignore all of those unaffiliated local stations)

Times

365 days a year

This equals $ 13,140,000,000.00 a year paid for advertising prescription drugs on TV.

13 billion dollars – so now you know why that little pill costs you $6.00 a piece.

Isn’t Math Fun???



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Medical Marijuana

Forget NORML – what a bunch of losers. Since their founding in 1970, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has been a miserable failure. After 40 years of effort, Medical Marijuana is still only available in 14 out of 50 states.,

If it were up to me, I could get it legalized in all 50 states within 30 days time – guaranteed. The solution NORML has been looking for is so simple, it’s incredible that they never thought of it. Maybe I should offer to sell my solution to them for big bucks. On second thought, I’ll just tell everyone here – just remember where you heard it first. Ready??? Here it is:

Just let Merck patent it.
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Yes, grant Merck (or Pfizer or any other major pharmaceutical company for that matter) the patent for Medical Marijuana and watch what happens within the next 30 days. First, they are going to come up with a catchy name for the stuff, something like ‘Canniball THC’. Next, every drug study from the last 50 years that showed the benefits of Medical Marijuana will be re-evaluated in a new, positive light. Then, the TV commercials will start extolling the virtues of Medical Marijuana for a myriad of illnesses including Cancer, MS, AIDS, and Glaucoma. Soon, it will be the new Lipitor – everyone will have a script for it.

Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess, so they won’t stop there. Next, they’ll come up with a never-before heard of ‘syndrome’ that Medical Marijuana will be the answer to. I can see the commercial now:

Patient: What is it Doctor? What’s wrong with me?

Doctor: I’m afraid you have a type of chronic white eye syndrome.

Patient: Is it serious?

Doctor: It can be, especially if you’re a British soldier advancing up Bunker Hill. I’m writing you a script for Canniball THC

Patient: Is it safe?

(Camera zooms in for a close-up of the Doctor’s face, which features two very bloodshot eyes)

Doctor: I use it myself, Dude.

Then comes the disclaimer:

Use of Cannibal THC may have several side effects, none of them serious. Side effects may include giddiness, lethargy, paranoia, affinity for music and flashing lights, and an uncontrollable desire for junk food. If you experience any of these side effects while using Cannibal THC, chill.

Naysayers may think that a pharmaceutical company can’t patent a plant, but they’re wrong – pharmaceutical companies have been doing this for years. Many modern pharmaceuticals are based on plant extracts, so allowing them to patent marijuana would just be business as usual.

Plus, my plan dovetails nicely with promoting the new health care reform legislation – millions of currently uninsured Americans will have a new-found interest in having health insurance, so long as their policy includes prescription drug coverage.

All the players will benefit as well.

Pharmaceutical companies will have found a new, untapped, multi-billion dollar revenue stream.

Health insurance carriers will be able to raise monthly premiums even more to compensate for the increased expenditures for Medical Marijuana.

Lawyers will sue the drug companies and doctors for damages every time a seed pops and burns someone’s chest.

Everybody wins.

As soon as sales start to level off, in a few years time, the pharmaceutical companies will be sure to release Cannibal in a new, non-prescription strength (probably made in Mexico). On that glorious day, anyone will be able to walk into the local Wal-Mart and buy a pack of Cannibal OTC. And NORML’s dream will finally be realized.
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It’s really that simple.



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Malpractice

Treating the Symptom

This is one of the worst things that a health care provider can do – treat the symptom instead of the disease. Take, for instance, a patient with chronic headaches, Unbeknownst to the patient, these headaches are being caused by a slow-growing tumor on their brain – a serious matter, but treatable in it’s current state. Let’s say that this patient brings these chronic headaches to the attention of their physician, who does no diagnostic work, but who simply prescribes pain killers to mask the headache symptom. As time passes, the untreated tumor continues to grow, and the headaches increase in their intensity. The patient’s doctor still neglects to do any type of diagnostic work, but simply increase the dose of painkiller. Finally, the patient reaches the point where any safe dose of painkiller fails to mask the symptoms, and the tumor, now life threatening is finally revealed.

What a terrible tale. This is an example of gross medical malpractice – the physician clearly did not follow established protocols and failed to diagnose the disease while it was still in a treatable state. I don’t think that any jury would decide this case in favor of the provider – it is that clear cut. However, in a much smaller way, the patient holds some of the blame, as they sat passively by while the provider mismanaged their serious medical issue.

So, by the same logic, our legislators are just as guilty as this doctor is when it comes to ‘treating’ our national health care crisis. Time and time again, they are proposing solutions that treat the symptom – run away health care costs – without addressing the underlying disease – rampant profiteering and bureaucracy. While national health care reform addressees some of the issues with our present system, it does too little –too late, to have any lasting effect. Unless we start addressing the root causes of the health care crisis, the cost of health care as a percentage of our incomes will continue to rise at an unmanageable rate. Ultimately, even with the passing of national health care reform, we will be in the same condition that we are in today in just a few short years time.

Meaningful health care reform will only come once someone in our legislature has the testicular fortitude to oppose the lobbyists and special interest groups and attack the diseased parts of our current system. While the health insurance carriers are taking a minor hit with the new legislation, it really amounts to little more then a slap on the wrist. Indeed, bcause of the anticipated increase in subscribers, they may actually benefit from the new bill. Meanwhile, the other guilty parties - the pharmaceutical companies and the legal community – have escaped relatively unscathed. In fact, it seems that the pharmaceutical companies will actually reap financial windfalls from the reform act.

Significant reform will only occur once our leaders start turning a deaf ear to the lobbyists and special interest groups with their spin doctors and trunk loads of cash. Unfortunately, I doubt that this will ever happen unless the people – you and I – start holding our politician’s feet to the fire. Like the patient with the headaches, it is our responsibility to make sure that our ailing system receives the treatment it needs before the problem becomes terminal.

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Billionaires

According to Newsweek, pharmaceutical companies spent approximately 80 Billion dollars to help get the health care reform bill passed. To put things in perspective, that’s over 4 times NASA’s 2010 budget.

Why were they so interested?

Apparently, due to the increased numbers of people who will be covered by health insurance with the reform, they stand to make tem times that much peddling there wares. That’s an 800 billion increase in profits, not gross sales. The increase in gross sales will most likely be in the trillions of dollars. Trillions of your health care dollars.

As I have said before, prescription drugs are a big business in this country, so there is really no surprise here. The 80 billion-dollar question is ‘Where did they spend those 80 billion dollars?’ They haven’t launched any satellites, built any space stations, or flew any shuttle missions. In fact, I am not aware of how any of this 80 billion was spent.

So, where did this money go? I haven’t the slightest idea. If you want the answer, you’d better ask your congressman. Something tells me that they may know the answer to this 80 billion dollar question.


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Bad English

Irregardless. A made up word. The correct word is REGARDLESS. The word irregardless does not exist.

Yet, almost everyday, you hear someone using the made-up word irregardless when they meant to say regardless.

I hate these made-up words with incorrectly applied prefixes that butcher our language Especially because they eventually and inevitably find their way into ‘accepted’ language.

Need proof? Consider another made-up word with an incorrectly applied, redundant prefix that has made its way into our ‘accepted’ language - the word ‘pre-existing’. This made-up word is now used extensively by your health insurance carrier to deny people health insurance coverage.

The word that they should be using is‘existing’. Either the condition existed when you signed up for health insurance or it didn’t. “Existing’ is a perfectly fine word that almost everybody understands, so why make up a new word like ‘pre-existing’?

It’s quite simple - creating a new word is part and parcel to several well established propaganda techniques. They are not denying you coverage because of your ‘existing’ condition, they are doing it because of your “pre-existing condition”. Denying someone health insurance because they are already ill would seem cruel to most people, so they coin a new word, a euphemism, that means the same thing but sounds just different enough to mask what it really means – i.e.: we’re not going to cover you because you are already sick.

Yes, the difference is quite subtle, but it has the desired effect of helping defuse this volatile issue. Trust me on this – irregardless of what you might think, some spin doctor thought long and hard to add this new word to our lexicon. One positive aspect of the health care reform act is that this made up word may soon become an anachronism.


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For Your Eyes Only

Unless you’re Amish, you’ve probably seen that commercial for Restasis eye drops. You know the one – it features that cute but zombie-like eye doctor whose patient complains that they have to use over the counter eye drops several times a day for chronic dry eye – so the doctor writes her a prescription for Restasis, which she only has to use twice a day.

Been living under a rock for the last year? See the commercial for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUIyE_q7SAo

Apparently, there is a BIG difference between using eye drops ‘SEVERAL’ time a day versus using Restasis ‘TWICE’ a day. A big enough difference to justify the huge difference in price.

A nice big bottle of Equate Artificial Tears at Wal-Mart (around a 6 month supply) sells for around $2 a bottle. Restasis, on the other hand, costs only $210 for 7 day supply (assuming you are using it in both eyes).

So Restasis costs only about 2,700 times more then generic artificial tears from WalMart. Stick with the WalMart brand, and you’ll save almost $11,000 a year. This is quite a swing in profitability for the pharmaceutical company - no wonder they are showing that commercial so often! How fortunate for the zombie-lady doctor who also uses Restasis – as an eye doctor, I’m sure that she gets all the Restasis samples she can use for free.

I’m certain that some patients have such a severe dry eye problem that they need a drug like Restasis, but wouldn’t those patients hear about Restasis from their opthamologist? I’ve been using prescription eye drops for many years now for treating my Glaucoma – yet I never have never seen an advertisement for any of the eye drops that I’ve used – I have always learned about them from my eye physician. In fact, I have never seen a commercial for glaucoma awareness on TV, even though untreated Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness. Glaucoma is, by the way, a well defined disease of the eye, not an ambiguous ‘syndrome’.

Well, thanks to the Restasis people, lots of folks are now acutely aware of ‘dry eye syndrome’. Maybe dry eye syndrome won’t blind you, but, hey, there is no reason for anyone to be uncomfortable, or be forced to use eye drops 3 or 4 times a day. What ever did we do before Restasis? Thank goodness our hard earned health care dollars are being put to such good use!


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Amerika

I’ve been called many names in my life – some of them well deserved. After writing this blog for a while, I’ve picked up a new name that I have never been called before:

Un-American

After all, don’t companies have a right to market and sell their products? And when marketing and selling these products, don’t they have a right to make a profit? This is, after all, the American Way. Like it or not, we live in a capitalistic society. Making a profit is the god-given right for any corporation. Besides, when a drug company or a health care carrier makes a profit, their shareholders benefit from that profit. They employ thousands of people, thereby providing for them and their families. Being against these companies is downright socialistic. If I don’t like what they are doing, why don’t I move to a socialist country?

Good point.

I have a very simple reply: claiming that I am un-American for my views is like saying that a prosecutor who puts rapists and child molesters behind bars is against sex.

Corporations that abuse the public trust and who force this country towards the brink of bankruptcy for the sake of windfall profits are the ones who are truly Un-American.

That’s my view and I’m sticking with it.


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War of the Worlds

H.G. Wells, the famous science fiction writer, was amazing in many of his predictions of the future. I have always enjoyed his masterpiece ‘War of the Worlds’. Maybe this is because I used to live near Grover’s Mill, NJ, where Orson Wells claimed Martians had landed in his famous radio adaptation of H.G.s’ work.

If you recall the original story, the invading Martians were threatening to destroy our society. In the 1898 novel, Martians attacked our civilization using 3-legged machines of war called ‘tripods’.

Funny thing is, 112 years after H.G.Wells’ novel, our society is really under attack (or, at least, our health care system) by another 3-legged menace, albeit of terrestrial origin.




I know I have spoken of the health insurance carriers and the pharmaceutical companies at length, but there is a third leg to the war machine that works synergistically with these other two threats. In some ways, this third leg is even more sinister, as it operates relatively out of sight and mind, yet it’s contribution to the system’s decline is just as pronounced. I am referring to, of course, our legal community.

Over the past half century, we have seen a seen a tremendous rise in the amount of liability lawsuits in this country, and these lawsuits have hit the medical community hard.

Once again, let’s ask Drew Carey. When his show is not featuring commercials for power chairs or catheters, you quite likely to see a commercial for a local law firm. They all sound alike:

Have you been injured in an accident? Are you willing to fake an injury? Then call the law firm of Dewey Cheatem & Howe …

Yes, if you had an auto accident, ever been exposed to asbestos, or were injured at work, your local lawsuit mill WANTS YOU.

They also want you if you were the victim of malpractice, or if you took certain prescription drugs. Remember the recent Celebrex lawsuits? Law firms all over this country have set up entire divisions to handle this class action. Once the blood is spilled in the water, the sharks are never far behind. Malpractice lawsuits and lawsuits against certain pharmaceuticals are a huge business. Multi-million dollar settlements and awards are not uncommon. Some class action suits can result in settlements or awards in the billion dollar price range. In general, a full third of these awards and settlements are paid to the plaintiffs law firm. No wonder they advertise on TV.

Let’s all remember Star Trek Economics – the money to pay these settlements come, ultimately, from your wallet. The huge premiums that a medical provider pays for malpractice insurance, or the gargantuan reserves that a pharmaceutical company keeps to fend off product liability lawsuits are all passed on to you in the form of more expensive medical care and higher prices for your prescription drugs.

And Dewey Cheatem & Howe has never even sent you a thank you card.


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Economics 101

What do Casinos and Your Health Insurance carrier have in common?

They both have an intricate understanding of statistics and the law of large numbers. They understand that the larger the number of participants, the safer they are. If the number is large enough, statistically, they will make huge amounts of money. It’s the original suckers bet – and we’re the suckers.

Want to bet me $1,000.00 on a toss of a coin? Not for me – too much of a risk. How about you pay me $1,100.00 if my side comes up but I pay you only $1,000.00 if your side comes up? I’m still not interested, as I could easily lose $1,000.00, but you’ve got my attention. Okay, same bet but we agree to repeat it 500 times. Let’s go – I’m in!

So long as you aren’t cheating, I’d be a fool not to take that bet. Without a doubt, at the end of those 500 tosses, I’m going to have $50,000.00 of your money or something very close to it. I cannot lose – guaranteed – this works every single time.

This is statistics, plain and simple, coupled with the law of large numbers. Never heard of it ? Well, it is the very foundation that Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and your Health Insurance carrier are built upon. How else do you think that those casinos can build those huge hotels on prime real estate, give away low priced buffet dinners, and pay people to come in by bus?

Take our coin toss – you know that – heads or tails – it’s a 50-50 chance to win. Flip it ten times, and one of us might get a lucky streak and win 8 out of 10 times. But flip it 500 times, or 5,000 or 50,000 times and guess what? Percentage wise, the number of times that that coin comes up heads will be very close to 50% - that’s the law of large numbers.

Okay, so it may not be exactly 50% - perhaps it might come out to 49.8% or some fractional number like that. However, because I took the 10% advantage (getting $1,100.00 when I win and paying $1,000.00 when I lose) I am guaranteed to come out ahead. Guaranteed.

Now when we deal with more complex systems – a slot machine, a roulette wheel, or a health insurance policy, the percentages are still there, but they are quite a bit more complicated to figure out. This is where the actuaries come in. Actuaries are a special breed: Part Accountant, part statistician, and part odds maker, they analyze insurance data and, using the law of large numbers, can uncannily predict how much money your insurance carrier will pay out in benefits for you next year. Mark this up by a certain percentage, and this is how they calculate your premiums.

Insurance, it seems, is a fairly straightforward business. But there is the little fact about the business that your carrier does not want you to know or even think about.

Let’s go back to our little coin toss experiment, where I made that neat little 10% margin. That 10% margin is 10% of the total amount bet. So if we bet $1,000.00 a pop, and toss the coin 500 times, we would have bet a total of $500,000.00 and I would have a profit of 10% of that or $50,000.00. If we decided to up the ante (because you are bad at statistics) and bet $2,000 a toss, times, we would have bet a total $1,000,000.00 and my 10% margin would net me a cool $100,000.00. It does not matter what amount is bet, so long as the number of bets is sufficiently large, the 10% profit will always be there.

This has a very real implication in the world of insurance – your premium – or ‘bet’ if you will – always yields the carrier the same percentage profit. This means, and I am putting this in Caps because it is so important – THE MORE MONEY YOU PAY IN PREMIUMS, THE MORE MONEY THAT THE CARRIER MAKES. In other words, in spite of how much they may try to spin the truth, AN INSURANCE CARRIER HAS ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT OR DESIRE TO KEEP THE MONEY THEY PAY OUT AND THEREFORE YOUR INSURANCE PREMIUMS LOW. In fact, the opposite is true – the more money they pay out = the more money you pay in premiums = the more money the carrier makes.

Now, carriers may claim that they are trying to keep premiums low, or that, because of their efforts, you are actually paying less for your health care. In fact, they spend a good deal of money promoting themselves this way. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, they are secretly laughing at us all.

Laughing all the way to the bank. You can bet on it.

Sticker Shock

Here’s one way to start getting health care spending under control – and it’s one thing that all the players really don’t want to do – so you know it’s got to be a good idea!

The idea is so simple, it’s ludicrous no one has thought to mention it before: Let’s make a law that every health care provider, every laboratory, every hospital and every pharmacy has to tell you what their products and services cost BEFORE you purchase them. Not just the co-pay amounts and out of pocket costs – the actual retail price. When you think about it, health care is the one area where we spend a large percentage of our incomes and we never bother to ask the price before we buy – where else do we do this?

The American consumer is only concerned with what it something cost them out of pocket – not what it will actually cost them down the road in higher premiums, etc.

And most of them (not you and me, of course) still believe in Star Trek Economics.

Let’s start asking: What does that test cost? Do I really need another MRI? What does an office visit cost? Do I really need to see you twice a month? How much does that Rx cost? Is there a cheaper version? Another more affordable alternative?

Like lemmings off a cliff, we remain blissfully unaware of what our health care truly cost as we leap into the abyss. If we were aware, we might be prone to make more fiscally responsible decisions when managing our health.


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One Crazy Summer

Is it me, or are our leaders in Washington crazy?

Okay, maybe ‘crazy’ is a politically incorrect word. Perhaps ‘insane’ is a better term.



One of the best definitions of insanity that I have ever heard is when someone does the same thing over and over again but expects different results every time they try it.

So, what then, can we say about our government leaders? In my opinion, a national health insurance plan is just another reincarnation of the failed health insurance model that is bankrupting all of us. Aside from the government’s involvement, it really offers any real change from what we have right now – and what we have right now isn’t working. By failing to address all of the major faults of the current system, national health care is doomed to failure. It will offer some temporary reprieve, but in the long run, we’ll end up right back where we are right now.

The sad thing is, the government has it in its power to address some of the real vampires that are sucking the lifeblood out of our current system. Instead, they are just rehashing the same failed delivery system we are stuck with today. And by doing so, we know that we’re going to end up with the same result tomorrow.

After all, we’re not crazy.


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Barnie Stimpson

Did anyone watch the CBS sitcom ‘How I Met Your Mother’ last night? I’m a big fan of this edgy comedy.

Well, last night, Barney Stimson (as played by Neil Patrick Harris, aka Doogie Howser, MD) noticed the influx of a bevy of beautiful women into the local watering hole. Barnie, for those of you unfamiliar with the show, is the quintessential ladies man (Neil apparently is the greatest American actor since Barrymore!). He excitedly identifies this troupe of women as Pharmeceutical Sales Reps, or ‘Pharmagirls’

These Pharmagirls are known for their beauty as well as their outstanding ability to flirt with men and keep them ‘on the hook’.

Barnie (or Neil) must have been reading my blog on the ‘Paninni Parade’.

Thanks, Barnie! It’s nice to know SOMEBODY is paying attention! ;-)


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Little Dutch Boy

All right then – are you ready to start plugging holes in our health care system?

Good – let’s get started by first finding some holes to plug.

Oh, some holes are obvious, and others are veiled by layers of smoke and mirrors. So, let’s find some obvious holes first – you know – to get the ball rolling. To find these holes, we should ask one of the leading experts in the field of loopholes that lead to wasteful spending of our collective health care dollar.

I am referring, of course, to Drew Carey.



You all know Drew – the portly, friendly-faced comedian with the blonde crew-cut and the thick horn-rimmed glasses. For the past year or so, Drew Carey has been the host of the extremely popular daytime game show ‘The Price Is Right”. Tune in any day, and watch the commercials – they are very enlightening!

Aside from the usual pharmaceutical commercials, you will be bombarded by commercials for medically related products that you would never think need to be advertised on national TV. Diabetic testing supplies. Catheters. Power Wheelchairs.

Plus, the announcer states over and over ‘Medicare and your insurance company will get you these items at little or no cost to you!’ ‘Star Trek Economics’ strikes again.

“I want to go-go-go in my hoveround” “it didn’t cost me a penny!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKPeYrrhIvQ

How many people need a $7,000 power wheel chair? And if, god forbid, you did require one, wouldn’t your doctor put you in touch with a local supplier?

Diabetic Testing Supplies – Get your free meter – the supplies (that work with this free meter) are covered by Medicare -we’ll even order them and deliver them for free!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXQaMaBxwRg


How about re-using catheters? Not any more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFEio0OCWek


OK, let me be 100% clear her – I am not against diabetics, wheelchair bound individuals, or people who need to use catheters. But please understand that these represent a relatively small portion of society. So why are we bombarded by expensive television commercials for these products that also happen to be covered by Medicare and Private Health Insurance? How can these suppliers afford to do this? The average 30 second TV commercial run nationwide costs around $100,000.00 to air. How can a company selling catheters drop ½ million a week on advertising?

There can only be one answer – there is a ridiculously high profit on these products. If there weren’t, . they would not be able to air all of these commercials and still remain profitable. This means that Medicare and Health Insurance carriers are paying far, far too much for these products – and that means we all are paying too much for them.

Need more proof? Check out what these wheelchairs sell for used. A power chair that is only a few months old in perfect condition will lose 75% or more of its value – it seems that they are not worth so much when insurance is not paying for them.

So lets start by identifying these over-priced products and restructuring the amounts that are being Medicare and Private Insurance are paying for them. This won’t have a major impact on health care cost, but it’s a start, and an easy one at that. After all, Drew has already found them out for us.

(As a side note, I would LOVE for a Hoveround Wheelchair to be featured on a The Price Is Right” showcase, just to show how much these things actually cost – I bet that few people watching the show has any idea that they cost around $7,000.00).
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