The US healthcare system continues to be plagued by fiscal irresponsibility. The Medicare "Part A" system (payments to hospitals) is predicted to go bankrupt by 2019. Now, the Medicare Trustees Report predicts cuts of about 5% a year to "Part B" recipients (payments to healthcare providers).

For a provider making $75,000 a year in 2003, the projected cuts would result in an income of $52,991 a year in 2013.

For a provider making $100,000 a year in 2003, the projected cuts would result in an income of $70,655 a year in 2013.

For a provider making $125,000 a year in 2003, the projected cuts would result in an income of $88,319 a year in 2013.

For a provider making $150,000 a year in 2003, the projected cuts would result in an income of $105,983 a year in 2013.


COMMENT: the effect of the new prescription plan is unknown, but likely to put added stress on the system. Major drivers of increased costs don't necessarily lead to better health care.

New medicines frequently are market-driven, not based upon science.

Technology often is used just because it can, not because it improves the health of the community.

Unrestrained capitalistic competition, and a lack of cooperation in the medical community, can lead to duplication of services and an inappropriate utilization of expensive equipment - while many families end up poor, bankrupt, and lacking fundamental healthcare.

A major source of increased costs in healthcare is the use of medicines that are still patented. Companies that make these patented medications have exclusive rights to make and sell the product.

How do the companies sell their new medicine? A frequent method is to give medical clinics "free" samples of their product. This actually harms, not helps, the healthcare system.

When a poor patient needs antibiotics, the healthcare provider will try to help them out by giving them samples. The problem with this is that the only samples available are the latest antibiotics the pharmaceutical companies are pushing. Inappropriate use of these late generation antibiotics leads to an increase in antibiotic resistence.

Who ends up getting the inappropriate antibiotic? The poor patients, because they are the ones receiving the samples.

On the other hand, patients with a greater ability to pay are given a prescription. This prescription is much more likely to be the appropriate, generic antibiotic.

When a poor patient needs to be started on a medicine for hypertension, sometimes the provider will again try to help the patient by giving them samples. Once again, the samples in the clinic are late generation, expensive medicines. These late generation medications almost always have not been shown to be any better than the available generic medications. The only difference is a huge increase in the price.

So the poor patient gets started on an expensive medication because of the availability of samples in the clinic. But what does this patient do a month later when a refill is needed? The healthcare provider often will not want to change medications at this point, if the samples seem to be working well. So the poor patient gets a prescription for a medicine that costs $50 a month instead of one costing $10 a month.

http://www.GenericSamples.com aims to combat this problem by providing samples of inexpensive, generic medicines that work just as well as patented medicines.

The large pharmaceutical companies have huge sales forces. The most successful company, Pfizer, in the past has devoted the largest percentage of their budget to marketing than any of the other firms.

GenericSamples.com is the online sales force for generic medications. By supplying medical clinics with generic samples, GenericSamples.com will help save the healthcare system money, while at the same time improve quality.

Antibiotic resistence will be reduced.

Patients will be more likely to receive an appropriate generic sample, instead of an expensive patented medication.

GenericSamples.com is administered by the Internet Medical Association, a non-profit organization (http://www.medjournal.org)

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The Internet Medical Association
http://www.medjournal.org

GenericSamples.com
http://www.genericsamples.com

AMA News Article
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/20...12/gvl10412.htm

Medicare Trustees Report
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/publications/trusteesreport