Health care companies profit at our expense

Dr. Hugh MacMenamin is right on the money (July 18 guest column) with all of his solutions to the health care problems.

Health insurance companies should decease their operating budgets from 20 percent to 5 percent, just like Medicare and foreign health insurance companies. Why can't U.S. insurance companies maintain their costs? I think there is no incentive to do so. Recipients of health care have to pay whatever insurance companies charge.

Making health care companies “not for profit”: Why should the patient pay for stockholders' dividends, especially when many people today are out of work, some may be on Social Security, some are disabled. The health care stockholders' profit from other people's sicknesses and accidents.

Ban all pharmaceuticals' advertising. Any new drug information should be sent to the doctors, not advertised so the patient will want to buy new, improved drugs instead of generic drugs which cost a lot less and work just as well. Other countries pay a lot less for their drugs, why shouldn't we?

It would be fantastic if prices for different procedures were available to the patient so they can go to the least expensive place to get these procedures done. Hospitals should not be spending money advertising - they should use this money to lower cost to consumers.

Physicians should view their patients as “customers” since the patients pay the physicians' wages. If the patient is unhappy with their treatment or wait time, they should look elsewhere.

Renna Scott

Center Point