Mark Small

Turned out only people from Gaming Comm’n - whom the casino people all knew on sight - and folks who run casinos wear suits in Las Vegas. “And we call to tell each other if we’re gonna stop by, as a courtesy.” 3/16

Even casino owners - who don’t worry so much about competition; it takes a complete idiot to lose money running a casino - check out the competition. Why USA doesnt consider what other countries do in regard to health care is absurd. 4/16

USA ranks 37th - as in 36 other countries R ahead of us in quality of our health care. We can learn fr those 36 countries, such as Singapore (#6), Oman (#8), Singapore (#11), Finland, Sweden, Portugal (#12), Colombia (#22), France (#1), and Italy (#2). 5/16

Here are some things that might be good: utilize the buying power of the consumers of health care to drive down prices, especially of pharmaceutical drugs. A large group can negotiate better than an individual. 6/16

Another idea is cliche: an oz of prevention is worth a lb of cure. If screening tests & other preventative measures require no payment, overall costs of health care go down for everyone. People don’t get tested if the test is too costly. 7/16

This could extend 2 kids, who shouldn’t B punished for their parents’ sin of poverty - or even middle class status. Quality health care early in life correlates positively with good health long-term a/k/a long life. 8/16

We also can cut overhead. The markup for administrative costs can be incredible. And why do hospitals and pharmaceutical companies need to advertise. Not many people choose hospitals because of spiffy TV ads - or based on robo-calls. 9/16

While we’re at it, New Zealand is the only other country that even allows drug companies to advertise. And speaking of ads, as Prof Sheila Suess Kennedy noted recently in her blog, drug companies pay > for advertising than for R & D. 10/16