Cocoa How have the mighty fallen OT. 725

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 17:53:11 +0100 Andy Hall wrote : mum

The government would still have to decide what it was prepared to fund and how much money it would make available. IMHO this would lead to two things:

1. The providers following the money: there was a bit of research re private hospitals in Melbourne Australia a while back. When asked whether they could take an older person who needed little more than extended bed care quite a few claimed to be full. When the enquiry was re someone who would need lots of extra services they suddenly had room. You see this now with universities closing departments (science esp) that are expensive to run and expanding the more 'profitable' ones.

2. Anyone who has ever had a car repaired post-accident will know the "is it an insurance job?" scenario. Somehow the cost of treatment would always rise to meet the funds that could be extracted from the system. How much will your local undertaker charge for a DHSS-funded ceremony: the amount the DHSS pays. IIRC BUPA had problems with hospitals trying to rip them off. You'd lose the current bureaucracy but just subsbreastute another one .

I have just been at a conference in the USA and the most horrific story was from someone who had been in a good IT job and was made redundant. Healthcare went with the job. His wife was diagnosed with cancer just before the work cover ran out and she was treated. But now no company will cover any future because of a pre-existing condition provision. Should it come back they are probably broke. Fortunately we don't have to face this sort of possibility.

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