Why are healthcare/insurance cost so high?

[Woodznutz]

I don't have the link handy...

But I read that 25% of adult females take prescriptions for mental health issues.

..... ..... ..... What scares the hell out of me is...

..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... that means the other 75% are off their meds.


WW

YIKES!

 

[WorldWatcher]

YIKES!

 

[sparky]

well i have to ask, if we're paying top $$, why aren't we the healthiest people on this rock?

~S~

 

[dblack]

I recently heard of a family paying $26,000/year for health insurance. I'm sure they care.

They care about their insurance rates sure, but when they go to the doctor they don't care about the bill. Probably don't even look at it. All they care about the out-of-pocket amount. So they have ZERO incentive to be cost conscious when it comes to their health care consumption. Arguably, they have incentive to shoot for the moon, and choose the most expensive options available. As long as they're "covered".

 

[Greenbeard]

Simple supply and demand. Large numbers of sick and injured people with too few medical personnel to care for them.

Baumol effect - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[debbiedowner]

I recently heard of a family paying $26,000/year for health insurance. I'm sure they care.

I know a family of 5 right now paying $39,000 per year, why? The wife won't change her family doctor and go with another network that could save them around $10,000 per year. Sure this guy can afford it as he is a very good attorney but still I would change docs to lower the premium.

 

[DGS49]

Medical costs are "so high" because the normal phenomenon of supply&demand is not applicable. "We" don't know or care what our healthcare costs are because almost no one actually pays for it. When you drill down even slightly, you see charges that are multiples of what would be reasonable, and the providers usually just take what the insurers, the government, or some other entity pays, and doesn't worry about the unpaid balance. Probably because it is all bullshit anyway.

It may be true that if "we" had gone to a socialized system after WWII like many western democracies did, we would all be better off today, but a transition now is simply out of the question. The levels of fraud, waste, and abuse arising out of the transition would make the third world kleptocracies look like examples of efficient government by comparison.

 

[Woodznutz]

Baumol effect - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Good points.

 

[Woodznutz]

Medical costs are "so high" because the normal phenomenon of supply&demand is not applicable. "We" don't know or care what our healthcare costs are because almost no one actually pays for it. When you drill down even slightly, you see charges that are multiples of what would be reasonable, and the providers usually just take what the insurers, the government, or some other entity pays, and doesn't worry about the unpaid balance. Probably because it is all bullshit anyway.

It may be true that if "we" had gone to a socialized system after WWII like many western democracies did, we would all be better off today, but a transition now is simply out of the question. The levels of fraud, waste, and abuse arising out of the transition would make the third world kleptocracies look like examples of efficient government by comparison.

It's also "whatever the market will bear". We are beneficiaries of their care, but victims of their greed.

 

[dblack]

It's also "whatever the market will bear". We are beneficiaries of their care, but victims of their greed.

You can't be victims of someone's greed unless they've defrauded you or stolen from you.

 

[Crepitus]

Simple supply and demand. Large numbers of sick and injured people with too few medical personnel to care for them.

Little more to it that that.

 

[Woodznutz]

You can't be victims of someone's greed unless they've defrauded you or stolen from you.

The medical industrial complex has defrauded the entire nation.

 

[Woodznutz]

Little more to it that that.

Of course. You get hit by a buzz saw, more than one tooth does the cutting.

 

[dblack]

Medical costs are "so high" because the normal phenomenon of supply&demand is not applicable. "We" don't know or care what our healthcare costs are because almost no one actually pays for it. When you drill down even slightly, you see charges that are multiples of what would be reasonable, and the providers usually just take what the insurers, the government, or some other entity pays, and doesn't worry about the unpaid balance. Probably because it is all bullshit anyway.

This seems like such an obvious observation. Yet most people are happy to ignore it. I wonder why.

 

[Hafar1014]

Simple supply and demand. Large numbers of sick and injured people with too few medical personnel to care for them.

No its tort laws that allow lawsuits with huge damages.

 

[Hafar1014]

Health insurance prices are high, and getting higher, because health care prices are high, and getting higher. Health care prices are high because we have too much insurance, so no one cares what their health care costs.

Just limit the damages lawsuits are causing and costs will go down

 

[dblack]

Just limit the damages lawsuits are causing and costs will go down

I've looked into that. Lawsuits aren't the problem. They make for a higher baseline, but they're not responsible for the continuous inflation of health care prices. The broken market is doing that.

 

[Woodznutz]

No its tort laws that allow lawsuits with huge damages.

The drug and medical industry is bleeding us dry as fast as they can. Our salvation is that there aren't enough doctors to see us in a timely way. It takes months to get an appointment to be bled.

 

[Woodznutz]

No its tort laws that allow lawsuits with huge damages.

All businesses come under the law of supply and demand.

 

[dblack]

The medical industrial complex has defrauded the entire nation.

How so?