Received This In An Email Former Candidate Sends/FAXes His Version Of Single Payer To Capitol Hill!

[DaLittle Kitty]

Let's see what they do in their meeting later this week the topic of which is NOT Single Payer but ... Health Care Policy?


Dear Representative Miller, Rangel, Waxman and Staff including the Health Policy Team,

It is my understanding that you will be holding a hearing or hearing on Health Policy this week, which may include a discussion of a Public Health Care Finance Option. I, and many others in particular health care providers such as myself, are counting on you demonstrating the political courage to move forward with the Single Payer Option as a major topic of discussion.

Below is my analysis and discussion of what I believe to be the most efficient and politically expedient proposal for comprehensive reform regarding the financing of health care in this country. Many areas of concern as well as major arguments against the Single Payer option are discussed.

I recognize that you are in receipt of plenty of information related to health policy. However, I am providing you a perspective from a working provider's perspective who has had experience in the politics of this issue as well. This material was recently provided to Florida Senator Bill Nelson as part of discussions on Health Policy Reform with the Senator.

I am hopeful that this information will be of assistance to you and your colleagues. I am available for further discussion or questions via my contact information, which is listed below.

Thank you. America is depending on you.

John Russell, MS, ARNP, ANCC Certified Acute Care, MBA Health Systems Management,
2006-08 Democratic Nominee U.S. House, Dist. 5 Florida


Below is taken from my campaign website www.johnrussellforcongress.com
Links for each section page precede each directly above.


http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=35

*
The Problem for Health Care Consumers
*
The Solution for Health Care Consumers
*
Excerpts: The 2008 Health Care Plan of Presidential Candidate John Edwards
*
Health Care Key Points
*
Problems with Medicare
*
Medicare Prescription Drug Plan
*
Health Care



http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=36

The Problem for Health Care Consumers

Americans are being priced out of health care. A typical employment-based health insurance plan in 2003 was $8,800 split somehow between the employer and the employee according to economist Uwe Reinhart. According to Reinhart, these prices in recent years have been rising at a rate of 10% annually. If this inflationary trend continues at only a 10% rate according to Reinhart, small changes in productivity growth, product price levels, and health insurance premiums could easily drive the fraction of total compensation that is absorbed by health insurance to over 50%.

A St. Petersburg Times article ( 4/23/04 ), quotes Florida Governor Jeb Bush as a strong proponent of so-called “Bare Bones” health insurance policies with low premiums, minimal coverage and high deductibles. While state lawmakers lift coverage mandates for cost- effective preventative care such as mammograms and other screening tests on the recommendation of the Governor, citizens covered by these programs are the losers.

Solutions such as those proposed by the governor are merely the first giant leap toward health care rationing. These plans severely limit access to more sophisticated and costly health care services through onerous plan restrictions and deductibles. As more and more people are forced by economic circumstance into these bare bones coverage plans, a broader cross section of society is shut out of modern health care services. Consequent to this phenomenon, modern health care becomes a luxury commodity provided mostly by those of relatively modest circumstance (Nursing staff) to those affluent enough to afford premium health care insurance coverage.

The rising cost to business for employer based health care coverage places smaller employers at a competitive disadvantage with larger organizations relative to cost and competition for employees. High costs for providing health insurance coverage diminish profits as well as employee earnings. Meanwhile as premiums rise and services are restricted, profits grow for the insurer at the expense of the insured. Again the prevailing direction is one favoring the shifting of risk and cost away from the insurer to the insured, those unable afford insurance, and the providers of health care.

Veterans are increasingly bearing the brunt of budget cuts at the federal level. The closing of Veterans Administration health facility displaces cost and risk to from government to the consumer (Veterans). One veteran told me a story of brother who had to travel to Gainesville, Florida because the facility in Georgia had been closed as a result of budget cuts. The teller of this story himself badly scarred both physically and emotionally from his Vietnam and Korean experience became emotional as he told me this. We have a whole new group of disabled veterans from depleted uranium Gulf War (1991) and blast injured amputees. Our debt to our veterans must be repaid with the care necessary to put their lives back together. I will support our veterans unwaveringly.

John Russell, MS/ARNP (Acute Care), MBA, Health Systems Management








http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=37

The Solution for Health Care Consumers

* Commence the incremental transition to a National Single Payer Universal Health Care system through a competitive model utilizing a Medicare for All approach similar to the plan proposed by 2008 Presidential candidate John Edwards..
* Mandate that all health insurers will be required to use a uniform standardized health care claims reporting form.
* Mandate that all health care insurers be required to adhere to a uniform standard set of rules for claims submission for services reimbursement.
* Mandate that there will be a uniform standard of compensation per medical specialty for equivalent services rendered without arbitrary/preferential variation between differing health care providers per a given geographic/locality/region.
* Mandate a 25% federal tax deduction for physicians and other licensed Medicare-eligible primary health care providers based upon parameters established via Diagnostic Related Groups for care rendered to the indigent.
* Increase Medicare re-imbursement levels so as to broaden program participation among physicians/health providers.
* Invest in preventative care targeted at known causes of increased morbidity/mortality e.g., Diabetes, Basic Dental Care.
* Increase funding for the National Institutes of Health, which currently performs nearly half of this country's research into new drugs and therapies. The pharmaceutical industry subsequently patents these drugs and sells them to the U.S. consumer. Drugs derived from this federally funded research should then enter the market WITHOUT PATENTS… given the substantial taxpayer investment in the development of these drugs thereby greatly decreasing the cost to government as well as consumers.
* Provide a “Means-Tested” Prescription Drug Plan for those without coverage.
• Improve Medicare reimbursement levels in rural areas.









PROPOSED SOLUTIONS IMPACT

The steps outlined above represent the first steps toward a universal single-payer health care program. It is the “Velcro” lining of the health insurance industry that is the root cause of the massive inefficiencies in our health care system. These solutions adopted wholly, or in part, will increase patient access as well as participation by qualified physicians and health care providers. Additionally by improving remuneration for medical services, we will begin to make medicine and the health sciences more attractive to those capable of enduring the rigors of preparation for these vital careers.

John Russell, MS/ARNP (Acute Care), MBA, Health Systems Management


http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=38

Share Health Care Key Points

* Current health care finance system of private health insurers shifts cost and risk to consumers, health care providers and government thus restricting patient access.
* Patient access is adversely affected through restrictive coverage rules, high deductibles and premiums, provider choice limitations, and drug formulary constraints.
* Demographic of the “uninsured” population is broadening to include higher income workers secondary to decreased availability of affordable comprehensive coverage.
* The current private health insurance system transfers the cost of caring for the uninsured to physicians and other health care providers.
* Current health care system is administratively inefficient wasting up to an estimated $400 billion annually on paperwork associated with approval and processing of claims.
• Processing of claims submitted for care provider reimbursement are purposely complex, resulting in lost reimbursement for physicians and other care providers.

Key Points Cont’d

* Health Care Rationing…Loss of decision-making power for physicians and other health care providers secondary to restrictions on care permitted by private insurers.
* Medicine is becoming less attractive professionally and financially as a career choice, leading to shortages in key disciplines such as General, Neurological, Trauma surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology.
* Medical Malpractice insurance costs are contributory.
* Health care costs are become greater, secondary to economically oriented delays in seeking treatment, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality as well as costs of treatment.
* Increased health care costs secondary to untreated dental pathology e.g., sepsis and cardiomyopathy.
* Access to prescription drugs is impaired via economic rationing at all age groups.
* Increased morbidity and mortality of lower, and now lower-middle income demographic groups, disproportionately adversely affecting the quality and length of life of the less affluent in America .

John Russell, MS/ARNP (Acute Care), MBA, Health Systems Management

http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=78

















John Edwards' Plan

Remains The Best Path To A

National Single Payer Health Care Plan

I did not win my election and neither did John Edwards but his ideas and mine remain sound and should be considered objectively.

I acknowledge here the influence of John Edwards plan to re-design how America cares for its citizens. I do this because just like many others believed, John Edwards plan was the best plan among all of the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. As a health care professional, I still believe that to be the case. I will when elected advocate for a National Health Care Plan that incorporates many if not all of the characteristics embodied in the Edwards Plan. (Link Below)

http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/health-care/

The American health care system is broken. There are 47 million Americans who lack health insurance, and 18,000 people die every year as a result. Health care costs are skyrocketing and premiums are up 90 percent since 2000. Even families with insurance are often unprotected from catastrophic events when insurers fight legitimate claims, impose coverage caps, and seek excuses to revoke coverage when its needed most. Half of families entering bankruptcy are driven there by high medical costs. Many people who have health insurance are "under-insured" and postpone needed health care because of their meager coverage.

As senator, John Edwards championed the Patients' Bill of Rights to fight managed care and insurance company abuses. Now more than ever, the health insurance industry needs to be kept honest. While companies have an obligation to treat their customers with fairness and dignity, too often companies put their own profits and executive pay first. Today, Edwards outlined his plan to make sure that families with insurance have the health care safety net they pay for and need.



Insurance Industry Abuses: The current health care system is broken, often letting down even families with insurance. The abusive behavior of insurance companies includes:

* Designing confusing forms and procedures that make it very difficult for patients to claim the benefits they deserve and forcing patients to hire paperwork consultants.


* Using complex and unfair rules to cancel insurance policies after people get sick, despite accepting past payments. California regulators fined one insurer, Blue Cross of California, $1 million for violating state rules and abusively canceling insurance policies from 2004 to 2006. Another insurer, Health Net, paid bonuses based upon the number of patients whose policies were canceled for technicalities.


* Wrongly denying medical treatment needed to live and covered by insurance.


* Charging patients more for "out-of-network" doctors at "in-network" hospitals, leading patients to unwittingly incur thousands of dollars in bills despite trying to follow the rules.


* Creating procedural barriers and paperwork that keep doctors from providing needed care.

Lack of Competition: In 299 of 313 markets recently surveyed, one health plan controls at least 30 percent of the market for health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations. In the last 12 years, the Department of Justice has only challenged two of more than 400 insurance company mergers. There is a merger pending in Nevada that would put 80 percent of the state's HMO market in the hands of one insurance company. High levels of market consolidation raises concerns that the insurance market may not be competitive, hurting the health care system.



Huge Levels of Executive Pay: As premiums skyrocket and some patients are denied care they need, insurance company CEOs are often paid tens of millions of dollars a year. In 2006, it was reported that the CEO of one of the world's largest insurers, UnitedHealth Group, had been awarded an


John Edward’s Plan Cont’d

astonishing $1.1 billion in stock options, enough to cover roughly 750,000 uninsured children with health insurance for one year.
Fighting for Families' Rights to Basic Insurance

John Edwards has fought special interest groups his entire career and knows that we need a health care system that works for everyone. His health plan will reform the health insurance industry to help us all get the insurance we need. Today, he proposed new laws to prevent abuses, stronger enforcement of insurance rules, and more competition and choice in insurance markets. Americans will no longer be on their own against insurance companies.

Tough New Insurance Laws:


* Insurance that Is Always There: John Edwards will stop insurance industry "rescissions," the practice of dropping individuals from insurance for technical reasons after they need their coverage. Edwards will pass a guaranteed issue law requiring insurance companies to sell insurance to everyone, regardless of their preexisting conditions, and preventing from denying coverage after a condition develops.










* A Fair Price for Good Insurance: Today, insurance companies will charge certain occupations and individuals with preexisting conditions more for insurance, such as police officers, firefighters, and construction workers. Edwards will put a stop to this practice, requiring community rating so that all people have access to insurance at a fair price.
• Ensure that Premiums Help Patients: Enacting health care reform to expand insurance to all families also requires establishing new rules so insurance companies cannot continue charging hardworking families
• excessive premiums, while pocketing the savings. Edwards will require insurers to spend at least 85 percent of their premiums on patient care as several states already do. The plan will force insurers to cut wasteful spending and pass savings on to families and employers.
• Empower Consumers: John Edwards will remove the mystery in what insurance companies cover. New "truth-in-insuring" rules will require insurance companies to be transparent and honest about what they will
• ultimately cover. The rules will set standards on explaining private insurance products and understandable medical bills.


* Guaranteed Comprehensive Benefits: Some states mandate that insurance companies must provide benefits like preventive care to children and screening tests like mammograms. Some insurance companies leave out these common-sense procedures. Under the Edwards plan, every American will have comprehensive benefits including preventive care and important tests.
* Creating a Bill of Rights for Patients and Providers: Now more than ever, Americans need a Patients' Bill of Rights for insurance and managed care companies. In 2001, John Edwards fought for the original Bill of Rights, which passed the Senate but was eventually blocked by insurance company lobbyists. As president, Edwards will help create an updated Bill of Rights to solidify the protections discussed in 2001 and reflect today's need to reform insurance companies' practices.

It is also time to protect doctors and hospitals from insurance company abuses. By making it difficult for health care providers to collect on their claims, insurance companies make it difficult for patients to get the care they need. Complex forms, long hold times on the phone, and inappropriate


denials of payment for needed treatments are just some of the insurance company tactics. Edwards will develop strict rules for insurance companies
that will make it easier for doctors and hospitals to get paid for and deliver needed care.

Stronger Enforcement:
Maintaining Accountability: All Americans need and deserve a strong line of protection against insurance companies. Edwards will revolutionize the individual and small group insurance markets with his new Health Care Markets, which will negotiate plans and carefully enforce protections for families. Edwards will also ask the Department of Justice and work with states to oversee insurance markets.

* Create an Advocate for Patients: In California, when a patient has a dispute with a managed care company, the state reviews the case to make sure the company acted within the law. Every patient deserves an advocate when he or she needs it. Edwards will look to models like California's and build a national resource for regular people to get the help they need in negotiating with for insurance companies and HMOs. Edwards will also establish a medical home for Americans with chronic diseases, giving patients a primary care doctor who can advocate against insurance companies for needed care.

More Competition

• Stop Insurance Company Monopolies/Cartels: Edwards will apply rigorous standards and block mergers that could hurt consumers, doctors and hospitals. He will direct the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an immediate and comprehensive review of the health insurance market and make recommendations on how to ensure a competitive market. Where monopolies already exist, he would break them up to ensure competition. He will also revisit the insurance company exception to the nation's antitrust laws.







Medicare For ALL Plan!

My Vision: This IS IT!

* New Competition for Private Insurers: The Edwards plan creates new choices for American families. The new Health Care Markets will be available to everyone who does not get comparable insurance from their jobs or a public program and to employers who choose to join rather than offer their own insurance plans. Families and individuals will choose the plan that works best for them. The markets will include a new public plan similar to Medicare.

The markets will include a new public plan similar to Medicare. In this Public Option Plan people could choose between continuing with their employer based or private insurance plan or choose to enroll in the public "Medicare for All" option.

In this plan, people of any age could enroll in Medicare paying a "premium" based on their ability to pay. The "premium" would be progressive according to income but with a maximum cap that would ensure for example that someone such as Warren Buffett would not pay any more for his premium than Donald Trump. I envision this plan at a minimum to be at least 40% less expensive than any comparable private insurance alternative due to inherent efficiencies associated with eliminating insurance company costs on many levels.

Medicare's current and projected financial outlook is less than optimal without some adjustment to its financial mechanism. Currently, the demographic that describes Medicare's population of enrollees is largely composed of people who on the whole are greater than average utilizers of health care services. The new Medicare as I envision it will prosper as my plan broadens the natural composition of the population to include younger people who are on average minimal users of health care services. These new younger enrollees will however through their premiums, be dramatically strengthening the fiscal status of Medicare while simultaneously being the momentum for single payer universally accessible health care in this country.



For those who are unable to pay, their status as non-paying patients will change. They will be enrolled in the "Medicare for All" public fund as a matter of course as subsidized patients as far as their Medicare premiums are concerned, but fully paying patients from the perspective of providers and facilities that provide health care services. No longer will providers be asked to bear the burden of financing those who are unable to pay.

Plan Features

Often an inequitably distributed burden, the care of the poor is most often concentrated disproportionately in large urban tertiary care centers. If each patient is a paying patient as my plan envisions, then the distribution of care
provided for those of meager means will be more evenly distributed by institution and more convenient for the patient. Increased patient convenience no matter their individual socio-economic status should result in improved patient compliance with treatment plans as well as preventative care and education.

The Plan must be comprehensive including basic dental, prescription coverage as well as long-term care and home health. A comprehensive effort targeted at improving the health of the American people will reward both patients and care providers for reaching individual benchmarks such as weight loss, smoking cessation, diabetes prevention/management and control of blood pressure.

Every health care provider knows that preventative care is the "Ticket" to improved health care outcomes. America today ranks not #1 according to World Health Organization Statistics but 37th! Improved outcomes through improved patient education and compliance with issues such as weight loss, diabetes prevention/management, smoking cessation and blood pressure will decrease major risk factors for morbidity/mortality, and will help America to climb up the ladder to improved quality and length of life for all Americans.

A healthier America it can be shown will be a more productive America and with the cost burden of a grossly inefficient means of financing and organizing health care lifted from the back of our economy, a more competitive and prosperous America will be our reward.



It is reliably anticipated that enough people will choose the public plan, that the US will then evolve towards a single-payer plan IF our elected officials allow such a plan to be approved. This IS the reason WHY the major health insurers are fighting tooth and nail against the Public Health Care Financing Option i.e., Single Payer. Holding the threat of a CHECKBOOK to the heads of elected officials!


In the event that proponents of a National Single Payer Plan prevail, the predictable result will be that private insurers will face new rules and competitive pressures to hold down their costs and deliver better coverage. Could it be that private corporate insurers would rather NOT have to compete with a Public Health Care Financing Option? Economist Paul Krugman mentioned just such a phenomenon in his op-ed today 8 June 2009!

If enough people choose the public plan, then the US will evolve towards a single-payer plan. This being the #1 fear of the private insurance industry.

As a result, private insurers will face new rules and competitive pressures to hold down their costs and deliver better coverage.

My Opinion

As a health care professional who has observed in the delivery of health care services many of the problems specifically outlined in John Edwards discussion, I have concluded that the most efficient way for America to extricate itself from the legalistic tentacles of the private insurance industry as it pertains to the financing of health care services, is to advocate for a plan such as this. While in 2006 I did advocate for HR676 the process of transitioning to it would be far more laborious and frought with peril as the private insurance lobby fought its emergence.

In John Edwards plan the mere fact that its implementation arises via a market competitive model, immediately defuses much of the opposition's thunder, while public acceptance of the model will in the end determine its fate. It is imperative that as a nation we decide whether or not we are going to place as a priority the care of ALL of our people. As a Congressman from


the Fifth Congressional District of Florida, I will! Case managers at the hospital where I work have told me that the volume of "Self Pay" patients has increased dramatically as the economy has declined. Not surprising as I heard similar concerns from a group of real estate professionals who in a down economy were finding it difficult to make their health care premiums every month.

There is an impact on all concerned, as providers are not reimbursed for their services, and patients that delay treatment until finally presenting to the Emergency Room with what is often a much more serious illness; that might have been more inexpensively and expeditiously treated had the patient requested treatment sooner.

Patients delay treatment very often because of fear of the $BILLS that follow a trip to the hospital or doctor. Episodes of chest pain may be cast aside for weeks until finally a BIGGER chest pain that cannot be ignored and does not ... go away strikes. I have seen this myself and time IS as they say ... "Heart Muscle." So the patient may survive but with significant disability relating to what is now a very badly damaged heart.

Removing this fear of $Cost will pay dividends in avoiding the costly disability that is so very common. Preventative care that incorporates patient education on a broad scale for issues that encompass for example diabetes, smoking and weight control can pay our society tremendous dividends as well.

Insurance companies are in business to make money. Nothing wrong with that except for the fact of HOW they make their money. Insurance companies make money through health insurance in several ways, none of which are particularly beneficial to the consumer. The more complex the insurance instrument, as John Edwards plan outlines in some detail, the more room there is for shenanigans that basically leaves the insuree high and dry without insurance or with a big hole in his/her pocket.

Money is made by the insurer by either denying coverage or pricing coverage ridiculously high or denying or delaying payment to providers. This IS our current system and it MUST be REPLACED by offering the public a new alternative that allows Aamericans a choice in HOW they finance their Health Care. We DO NOT WANT Health Insurance… WE WANT… Health Care ACCESS!

A plan similar to the one offered by John Edwards should be the health care system that we as Americans strive to achieve as its successor... and soon!

http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=39

Problems with Medicare

Medicare as we know it has evolved substantially since its inception to cover more people in an increasingly comprehensive manner. This has of course led to increases in program cost. Private alternatives to Medicare tend to be more efficient relative to cost secondary to their ability to make arbitrary coverage decisions. Medicare however, has always sought to pool risks; that is no enrollee can ever lose their coverage due to ill health.

Concerns with Medicare include improving benefits, legitimate prescription drug coverage and cost-sharing issues. One of the primary goals of Medicare has been to achieve some equality in service delivery without regard to economic status.

Medigap plans have evolved to assist patients in managing so-called gaps in Medicare coverage. These plans have changed from community rated premium model, to a system whereby premiums rise with age, thus becoming increasingly unaffordable for those with average incomes.

Meanwhile, as with private health care coverage, provider reimbursement levels have not kept pace with cost, increasingly leading to providers declining to accept Medicare patients. Access to a full range of providers is therefore limited in some cases by a patient's coverage and inability to pay for medical services.

John Russell, MS/ARNP (Acute Care), MBA, Health Systems Management

http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=40

Medicare Prescription Drug Plan



The recently passed Medicare prescription drug bill must be repealed. Should this plan go forward, major parts of Medicare will be privatized by 2010. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who voted against the bill, stated that “it will not strengthen Medicare and does not responsibly address the need for prescription drug coverage.”



The structure of the drug benefit is confusing. The so-called “doughnut hole” results in seniors paying 100% of their drug costs while continuing to fork out monthly premiums. The bill prohibits the government from negotiating with drug companies to reduce prices through volume purchasing. Many retirees fear that their former employers may drop coverage once federal coverage is in place. The bill just happened to contain a gift of $68 billion in tax-free payments to employers to prevent this from occurring.

While these aspects and others have caused great concern, the result of this measure has been to add substantially to an already impressive array of debt accumulated by this administration.

A more responsible and cost-effective alternative would be to address the needs of seniors without prescription drug coverage, address rural health care reimbursement formulas & preventative health care measures, while instituting some form of means testing relative to a prescription drug benefit. I fully support the importation of prescription drugs from Canada , New Zealand and Great Britain . I support the continued operation of Business offices that assist seniors and others in the faxing or transmittal of prescriptions to the aforementioned countries in order to obtain mail order prescription drugs. In my own family, prescription medications are obtained via the internet from Canada , saving about 40% over the best retail prices available locally. The medication is exactly the same brand and packaging as I would obtain from my local retail pharmaceutical outlet.

The Mail order prescription facilitating business should not be impeded by government agencies in the performance of their non-clinical role, of faxing




or otherwise transmitting, written prescriptions to the countries listed above; for filling and subsequent direct mail order delivery to the patient.

As your representative in the fifth congressional district I will initiate as well as support legislation to protect these businesses from unwarranted governmental interference.

John Russell, MS/ARNP (Acute Care), MBA, Health Systems Management

http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=41



America’s Current Health Care System

The current health care system in America has become increasingly unfair in terms of patient access and distribution of health care services. In terms of access, Americans with moderate incomes are being priced out of the health care system. This is a direct result of the health care insurance industry shifting cost as well as risk of illness and injury to citizens, health care providers and government at an accelerating pace.

While those fortunate enough to have health insurance struggle with escalating premiums, skyrocketing deductibles, and declining levels of coverage, the broadening cross-section of society that is the un-insured, has risen to record levels. Increasingly, employers, workers and families are choosing to go without health insurance coverage because they simply are unable to afford the premiums. While health insurance industry profits continue to reach new heights, the associated escalating financial and societal costs of caring for patients without health insurance shows no indication of abating,

Physicians and other health care providers bear much of this cost as they face an ingeniously engineered bureaucratic maze when attempting to seek reimbursement for covered services. The purposefully engineered bureaucracy that is the private health care financing system results in an excessive cost burden that has nothing to do with providing services, but has everything to do with maximizing profits.



The complexity of this system, which is inherently confusing and forever changing, adds unnecessary administrative costs to the system. While these administrative costs are mostly born by the provider secondary to the processing of insurance claims as well as service claims denials, the total costs of untreated illness and lost productivity are born by the American citizen.

The private health insurance industry composed of multiple corporate entities each with their own peculiar set of patient coverage and provider reimbursement rules, forms and regulations, is the means by which the




insurer decreases it's risk at the expense of the service providers, as well as the insured.

Multiple sets of rules and restrictions resulting from multiple insurance providers causes confusion… resulting in errors in claims processing… causing denials resulting in lost claims/reimbursement for service providers, and increased bottom line profits for insurers.


Lost in the financial crisis, is the fact that the health care insurer often is in control of the care that the physician/health care provider is able to provide. Such losses in physician autonomy do not often benefit the patient and is a form of health care rationing, again with the express purpose of maximizing profits for the insurer.

How can America deal with this growing crisis? My answer is a Nation Single Payer Plan/ Public Option.



John Russell (FL-5) D
Office Number- 352-567-1618
www.johnrussellforcongress.com

[DaLittle Kitty]

1. The Email was Well Organized and Easy To Read, DU Doesn't Copy And Paste Well!

But Content Is The Point!