Unnecessary Medical Services on You

The news on a health care practice written by Jennifer Hyde and Drew Griffin for CNN is definitely worth reading. Entitled “’Perverse incentive’ in current health care system,” it draws the attention to how people who work in the health care are paid. According to the researcher cited in the news, Dr. Elliott Fisher, “they are rewarded for more services, not better services. They are rewarded for more care, not better care.” This may originate in some cases the malpractice of asking for more medical services than needed, like an excessive number of exams or very long stays at hospitals without the need for it. They explain the particular case of McAllen, here in South Texas, where beneficiaries of Medicare spend almost twice the national average, most probably due to malpractices mentioned before.
Hyde and Griffins words are good reminders of the duty of citizens to keep themselves alert to misuses of public resources, like Medicare. The facts presented certainly help the ordinary citizen analyze the urgency for a health care reform so that good health care can be evenly distributed and at a fair price.