“I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.” --President Barack H. Obama, September, 2009 Thanks, Barry. http://www.nationalreview.com/corne...s-62-trillion-long-term-deficit-andrew-stiles
I read that article. It's projecting $6T+ added to the debt over 75 years. There won't be a country in 75 years, so the point is moot.
Really interesting in-depth article at Time about the reasons behind our ridiculously overpriced health care system. It's not really partisan--it just examines why a $.25 aspirin at a hospital costs $5.00. Obamacare is addressed, but not really highlighted as a great innovation in driving down cost. The really interesting point is that the health care industry has succeeded in making us debate how health care gets paid, and not why it gets paid so much. It doesn't want us to think about that. http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
Essentially, the main issue seems to be consolidation of health care providers. As there are fewer hospitals and independent doctors, insurers have less and less leverage. Much of it is really an anti-trust issue that can't be solved through legislation because health care spends more on Congressional lobbying than even defense contractors. There's also the completely opaque nature of billing, the incentives to prescribe overpriced tests, the nature of a service that you can't really refuse to accept (because you may die)....basically it paints a picture where the only thing that stands a chance against this monolithic industry is Medicare, and it's hamstrung by internal bureaucracies, Congress, etc. TLDR: Shits fucked up, yo. *shrug*
I bought a bag of coffee beans at the grocery store for $7. It makes maybe 120 cups of coffee. 6 gallon bottles of water at $1 each. For $13, I get less than $.10 per cup. I go to Starbucks and pay $2.25 for a cup of coffee. Seems like Starbucks has a bigger markup than the hospital does. (Hint: they both mark things up for the same reason - to stay in business, pay their rent and salaries, etc.)
Yeah, coffee and health care are exactly the same. I'm glad you were able to conclude that from the article. Bully for you.
They're not the same. What is the same is both Starbucks and the hospital have to pay rent, pay employees, pay for everything when there's lots of customers or few (or none), etc. We don't need more hospitals, contrary to what your opinion piece stated. We need lots of clinics to dispense aspirin instead of having hospitals do it. Hospitals are where people should go only if they need to be there for extended stays, or only if they have the equipment needed to perform some outpatient service.
This is a new one, I heard of a Beverly Hills Primary Care Physician who is adding an annual $500 fee for "administrative" duties for all of his patients, otherwise he will charge $50 for each incident of email communication, medical records requests, etc and a bunch of basic administrative services..... lol. wtf. kind of started the letter with a rant on the changing healthcare climate in this country.
I just checked. Maxiep has 1/4 of the posts in this thread, 173. He enjoys seeing the title. I have 5 posts. I thought I had about 1. A Starbucks store doesn't have 200 employees making a half-million dollars each, like a hospital. Unlike Starbucks employees, each doctor has hiring authority back at his own business and overpays top nurses because he's made of money. Salesmen walk in and sell medical equipment at a high markup because doctors are not exactly spendthrifts. It's not a good comparison, trying to fit medical economics into ordinary capitalism. Better would be to examine how so many countries have made medical care a civil right, and consolidated spending decisions to make that practical.
