Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993 TAG: 9307270205 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: By CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Then, he said, he would charge doctors $200 a pound for prime beef, and everyone else would pay $2.
The prospect of physicians' forking over 100 times the going rate for a burger generated a few wry smiles among a panel of health-care experts brought together by the Republican congressman.
But Saufley's witty comment also engendered a few empathetic nods from a public frustrated by spiraling medical costs and full of suggestions for turning the situation around.
During the three-hour forum at Virginia Western Community College, the panel - representing doctors, nurses, social workers, hospitals, insurers, union workers and employers - debated what direction national health-care reform should take.
Although there was no consensus, Goodlatte said he was pleased by the willingness of disparate sides to listen to ideas from each other and from the audience of about 60 people.
"It was interesting to me to put together a panel of eight experts . . . and to find that they did make a real effort to find common ground," said Goodlatte, who had to leave halfway through the forum to return to Washington for a vote.
Charles Thornton of Roanoke County drew upon his own experiences - two separate and lengthy hospitalizations costing nearly $200,000 - to question the inflated prices hospitals charge for such routine items as needles and heating pads.
But Dr. Jack Ballenger, president of the Roanoke Valley Academy of Medicine, noted that most hospital charges are actually based on elaborate cost-shifting so hospitals can break even on the Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured patients they serve.
"It's hard to defend prices like that," acknowledged Ballenger, who recalled a friend's astonishment at the $1,200 hospital bill he received when his daughter stayed overnight for a tonsillectomy. "But if you look into adjacent rooms, you find people who are uninsured, who have catastrophic illness . . . and for which the hospital gets no remuneration."
Goodlatte had hoped to time the forum to coincide with the release of the Clinton administration's long-awaited health-care reform plan.
But that proposal, once set to be unveiled in May, isn't likely to be made public until the fall.
Although the plan is based loosely on the concept of managed competition, Goodlatte acknowledged the details remain murky.
And Goodlatte, who opposes any form of nationalized health care, said he also remains skeptical of some elements of managed competition.
Under managed competition, health costs would be reduced because patients would be enrolled in giant medical cooperatives, spreading risk among a greater number of people. Critics suggest the plan could restrict a patient's choice of physician and treatments.
Among other issues discussed Monday:
More focus on luring family doctors to rural areas.
More emphasis on preventive medicine, including use of homeopathic and herbal remedies.
More attention to teaching youngsters the value of practicing good health habits, including proper nutrition.
Development of a standardized insurance form to reduce costs of paperwork.
by CNB