What is the average administrative cost of the major health insurance carriers?
What is the average profit margin of the major health insurance carriers?
What is the average administrative cost of government run programs such as social security and Medicare?
How much less than the average major health plans would the public option cost?
If we add up the savings from lower administrative costs, and the elimination of industry profits how much would that cover of the difference in private versus the public option premiums?
Knowing those numbers would help the public decide how much the public option will cost.
How much will it cost to computerize medical records nationwide? That may be a staggering figure. It will increase efficiency in the long-run but I suspect will take years to realize. How about hitting up Microsoft and other industry giants to pay for it? After all they will benefit from a national computerized medical record system.
If our legislators are grappling with the above questions, why are they keeping us in the dark?
Peter Rizzolo MD
