Insurers Picking Up Recall Cost - New York Times

Insurers Picking Up Recall Cost - New York Times

This is an example of how government program expenditures grow and get out of control. This case demonstrates how bad medicine, bad medical devices and/or bad medical practices cost double, sometimes triple, the original cost for care. The issue at hand primarily involves Medicare, but Medicaid (by any name) and standard health insurance program costs are also inflated because of the fact that if a medical recall is issued, the government or the insurance plan picks up costs that the manufacturer/producer should rightfully cover as part of the recall. Read on friends.

"When carmakers recall a vehicle, they provide a replacement part and cover the cost of the labor to install it. But producers of expensive medical devices have found a better way — they often have others, like taxpayers and insurers, pick up the labor cost. Last year, for example, when Medtronic and Guidant recalled certain heart defibrillators, both companies provided new devices free and agreed to reimburse patients up to $2,500 in out-of-pocket expenses for replacement operations. About 24,000 heart patients had such procedures; some 19,000 of them with Medtronic devices and an estimated 5,000 with Guidant units.

Neither producer, however, offered to pick up hospital and doctor bills. Instead, publicly funded plans like Medicare and private insurers are typically paying them. The total cost of those surgical operations is unknown, but estimates suggest the figure will mount into the tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars."

Call your congress critters and tell them that picking up the tab for the big pharma and medical manufacturers is not an efficent way to do business... for US!