Founding Partner of Endocrine Associates of Dallas Stanley Feld, MD, discusses the current healthcare system and issues that will arise with cost in the future.
Dr. Feld is the past president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American College of Endocrinology. He was the founding chairman of the AACE Corporate Advisory Board and inventor of "The Neck Check." He is also a past board member of the Texas Institute for Health Policy Research.
Q: What is your sense of the healthcare costs of an average family or individual? Are all in costs, insurances plus out-of-pocket costs, up or down?
Dr. Stanley Feld: $12,000 to $20,000 per year depending on the market and Medicare. Means tested Medicare premiums plus deductible and post-tax dollars are as high as $19,000. If you are in a group or if the government pays it is still a cost that is not counted or transparent.
Q: How do you perceive the impact of the PPACA so far?
SF: An expensive failure. It is great for the companies who are making money from the government largess but not for consumers. Getting medical care is getting more expensive and less effective.
Q: I saw that UnitedHealth profits are up in part due to a 1 percent drop in their medical loss ratio. Isn't this concept that percent of care to premiums being down contrary to what we are being told by DC?
SF: I have detailed how much the insurance industry makes and how they cook their books to take 40 cents of every dollar. You can read all the articles by pulling it into the search engine on my website. It will bring up all the articles with evidence.
http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2012/10/business-model-for-medical-care-2020-the-ideal-future-state.html
Q: Where do you see the country's healthcare system in five to seven years?
SF: Essentially destroyed unless the business model changes.