FA_Q2
Gold Member
This is one if the reasons why I am so against the healthcare bill. Giving everyone healthcare insurance is not the answer but rather the fastest way to make the problem worse. The issue is not if you have insurance but the actual cost of procedures themselves and the way that we pay for those services. If you were accountable for the small instances and could see the impact of the larger ones then the system would have to come up with a more reasonable price scheme. We do not need basic coverage fore everyone, we need majpr coverage for everyone and basic coverage for no one.A few extra blood tests is usually not defensive medicine. Sending every patient to get a CT scan that costs 100 TIMES more than a blood test is generally what drives things up. Also, no doctor acts in ways to avoid driving up malpractice insurance cost. They act to avoid getting SUED.
That was partially the point I was going to make but no one took me up on the offer. CT scans only cost what they do because of the insane practices of how we pay for basic care. I can get an MRI for under 200 bucks but I will guarantee that cost is several magnitudes higher for anyone that has insurance.
You're absolutely right. I remember seeing a letter written by someone and published in the AARP newsletter when the health care debate was in full swing, and it went something like: "After a visit to my doctor for [something], I was told my insurance company would be billed $200, so I asked the doctor (who is also my friend) what it would cost if I just paid the bill in cash. His response was Oh, about $40.00"
That kind of collaboration is why capitalism is becoming a dirty word.