It's not who pays, but how much we pay. Obamacare never solved what the real issue is...the cost of healthcare. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...s_big_hospitals_charge_exorbitant_prices.html
Two points: 1) solving America's problem with healthcare spendong is not just up to Obama, the legislature has an equal role. 2) The article, while interesting, doesn't offer any real solutions. Just saying we need increased competition is no solution without an actual plan to achieve actual competition. The same claim about competition applies across the entire medical spectrum from insurance, to doctors, to hospitals. Now there is some actual competition but it requires going overseas for surgery or treatment which is gradually becoming more common. This though, doesn't really work unless insurance companies will reimburse for overseas treatment and the need for treatment is not immediate.
Because if you cannot come up with a more cost effective solution your claim of robbery remains unproven. Sort of like claiming you were overcharged on a purchase without being able to show you could have purchased the same object at a lower price.
Doesn't take much more than a few simple google searches to reveal how we are being ripped off by hospitals and doctors.
You're right that the real issue is cost, but hospital healthcare costs are currently increasing at a slower rate than in 20 years. There is no way to get doctors to charge less unless you want to get really socialistic. Those costs have never really been on the table for discussion because, well, doctors are a protected species with lots of cash to float around DC. AND, they can always walk off the job.
The government could decide for life saving care what a fair price is based on costs and a modest profit and enforce it say tell all medical providers and drug companies you will get this for this antibiotic OR you can't sell it in the US and territories in any institution that gets any Federal Funding or takes Medicare or Medicaid. Say a markup allowed of 15% after breaking even on costs.
There are valid reasons to worry about the hospital industry and its pricing mechanism. But as a counterpoint, consider the actual trends in hospital price growth over the past few years: Culminating in this surprise in the first quarter of 2015: Hospital prices drop for the first time
The big question is where all that money is actually going. Only a fraction of it goes to the doctors.
If you have actual data about where the money paid to hospitals goes posting it would be beneficial to the discussion about whether or not hospitals are ripping patients off.
