Robert Gumbiner

Curing Our Sick Health Care System: a Solution to America's Health Care Crisis Robert Gumbiner

The basic health care system in the United States is not working and must be fixed. The cost of a new, effective system of health care delivery would be instead of rather than in addition to what the US population is now paying for an inadequate, incomplete system. We must put the fiscal responsibility for health care delivery on the medical care sector that makes the decisions on what medications, what procedures and who gets treatment and when, that is, the providers of care, mostly the doctors. By doing this we can correct the more than fifty percent overpayment and misuse of funds currently in vogue. The book deals with the concept of the possibility of eventual coverage of everyone through the Medicare system as the current population ages. It explains the leverage that that single payer universal system such as Medicare, can generate to change the incentives for the providers of care resulting in a reduction of the overall cost. It also sets forth the concept of choice for the patient, the allocation of resources, and the restructuring of the medical education system as well as the recruitment and training of providers. Other problems such as organizational development, provider groups, malpractice, reinsurance through a universal system and other solutions are also dealt with. Today 45 million Americans have no health care coverage, while approximately 50 million are under insured due to high deductibles and co-payments. Many who are eligible for Medicare, federal health care insurance for the aged and Medicaid, federal health care for the poor, may be without coverage due to lack of access to services in the areas that they live. Practical solutions to these problems are addressed. Robert Gumbiner, MD, with more than 40 years experience in the health care field as a practicing physician, a manager and a force in medical management education, derives much of his experience from successfully developing and managing one of the largest managed care companies in th