Capitalism can fix health care in America, medical expert says
Dr. Stephen Klasko, the president of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and CEO of Jefferson Health, said there’s a capitalist fix to health care.
His solution is intended to provide health care at a reasonable price for all Americans where doctors are paid fairly and patients receive quality medical benefits.
“It’s probably not Medicare-For-All, but it means that you are going to do some of the hard things around the system,” he said during an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Friday.
The plan involves adjusting doctors’ pay structure, addressing private insurance companies and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) contracts and stopping pharmaceutical companies from advertising their most expensive drugs.
“We haven’t solved the problems that have made health care so expensive, and we’ve just come up with things like Medicare-For-All or the Affordable Care Act,” Klasko said. “There’s an iron triangle of access of quality and cost, and we haven’t dealt with that yet.”
Congressional lawmakers continue to debate on which model is best to combat the high cost of health care.
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders', I-Vt., Medicare-For-All plan involves a system, in which the government pays doctors and hospitals. Critics of the plan say the drawback lies on how the government should pay for that bill.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRK | MERCK & CO. INC. | 99.83 | +2.40 | +2.46% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 25.14 | +0.19 | +0.76% |
| LLY | ELI LILLY & CO. | 749.60 | -3.69 | -0.49% |
| UNH | UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC. | 597.49 | -3.01 | -0.50% |
| HUM | HUMANA INC. | 295.62 | +1.60 | +0.54% |
| CI | THE CIGNA GROUP | 330.07 | +6.68 | +2.07% |
Health insurance companies have gradually expanded into new markets since ObamaCare was enacted in 2010. Big pharmaceutical companies have seen massive gains in their stock price. Merck & Co.’s stock price has climbed 104 percent, Pfizer is up 136 percent and Eli Lilly has jumped 216 percent since ObamaCare became law. Insurance companies have also seen profit gains with UnitedHealth Group, which is up a whopping 627 percent. Humana, meanwhile, is up 247 percent and Cigna 320 percent.
“Health care is the only entity in our entire economy where the middle man has been up 600 percent,” Klasko said.
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These are the top solutions on improving the U.S. healthcare system, according to Klasko.
Klasko’s Single Payer by State Plan
- Federal government mandates minimal standards and coverage
- States do requests for proposals from users based on cost, access, patient experience
- Insurers inform patients of options based on transparency
Klasko’s Health Care Solutions
- Invest in technology, artificial intelligence so health care can be done at home
- Markets decide closure of high-cost, low-quality hospitals
- Negotiate drug prices, ban pricey drug ads, force transparency of price