Let's begin a legal health care reform revolution.

to conquer. That was the beginning of the “specialization” in Medicine we see today. Specialization has oversold itself, has fragmented care and has contributed to the ever-escalating health care costs. In the commercialization of medicine, a lot of industry has risen between the physician and patient that do not contribute to care but extract from the precious health care dollar. Imagine if suddenly an enormous industry developed between the consumer and the food market and arbitrary laws were invented that forced consumers to buy their groceries only through approved intermediaries or third parties. That is, consumers would not be able to legally shop around for the best value by comparing the prices offered at various markets. This is exactly what has happened in Medicine. Before the inception of Medicare and Medicaid, the American Medical Association (AMA) was staunchly opposed to these programs and labeled them as representing the beginning of socialized Medicine. Hospitals of the late 1960s and early 1970s were ‘swimming downstream in the great river of medical revenue occasioned by Medicaid, Medicare, and the rise of health care benefits for the employed.’ As a result of poorly planned benevolent social programs, the health care system grew to the unprecedented level we see today. The political system was heavily lobbied and many laws were passed that effectively prohibit open competition in the health care industry today. Intermediary insurance groups have developed that charge outrageous premiums and yet pay very little money to the primary care provider. The political system adamantly wants to continue to protect these insurance groups as legitimate and necessary intermediaries between the physician and patient. I have a great contempt for socialized capitalism as seen with the drug makers, health plans, and in terms of war, Halliburton. As a free enterpriser, I have been able to donate to the uninsured over 20 million dollars in actual health care and I have saved the state of California over $100 million. In the early 1990s, I developed an outpatient medical system that I was going to market directly to the patients and small companies. My plan was very simple. I wanted to charge a fixed fee of $25 per adult and $l5 per child per month for all outpatient care. On behalf of the patients, I planned to negotiate with hospitals and insurance companies for a major medical plan that covered catastrophic conditions at a minimal cost, $150 per family per month. My plan was very sound and was well received by the community. To my astonishment, I found that there are laws that made my plan illegal. A consumer may be made to pay $2,000 for an MRI of the head while I could’ve been able to negotiate the cost down to $400. A small mind understands profit. A greater mind understands divinity and righteousness. The health care system is grossly inefficient and there is no consequence to stupidity or the failure to diagnose properly. A patient, at a great cost, may have to access the system on various occasions in order to get the proper care. The system does not differentiate between a mediocre provider and a superior one. It reimburses both the same irrespective of effectiveness or quality. Price fixing or price control as dictated by Medicare is flawed. How do doctors get around the mere $38 paid for seeing a complex elderly patient? Doctors may turn a minor case into a major case through the hospital syndrome or high-ticket care. We must use the rule of law to effect health care changes. We must litigate, litigate and litigate until we succeed. It is unfair that the uninsured is made to pay up to 10 times more than what Medicare or a PPO plan allows. To address this discrepancy, I need advocate lawyers in order to change such practice through the courts. 40,000 to 50,000 patients die yearly in the process of getting a procedure they did not need. The following are some of the procedures that we know are commonly performed but are often not necessary, Heart Bypass Surgeries (CABGs), Coronary Stents, Back Surgeries, Hysterectomies and the infamous Carpal Tunnel Surgeries (usually industrial). By applying Murphy’s Law that a patient is likely to die from a procedure he did not need, we can initiate the legal action after the adverse outcome. For specific non-emergency procedures, patients cannot really give an “informed” or legal consent by virtue of future legal precedent. This topic will be continued. Luis Lomeli MD/Beta/show less...