How American Healthcare Went From Best In World To Worst

There are a several reason's but lets start with number one . the cost of promoting political hacks and their comrades to promote the socialist agendas.


The list of colleges that paid big money to the Clintons for speeches



By Valerie Strauss
May 22, 2015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...peeches/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d5afa2973126

 

We also had clinics and teaching hospitals from our medical Univ.'s.
I use to take old people for appt.s and it cost them about $3 to have open heart surgery or if they were poor or on Medicare or Medicaid same for meds cost about $3 too.. This was before the politics and big business got involved in our academia.
Now they charge as much almost as the doctors in public practice.
We always took care of our poor with or without insurence till the democrats and Rinos took control of everything from our GMO food and filthy chemical filled animal farms.
And insurance is sky high to where even most working mid income families can't afford it and people lose their homes because of medical bills.
Not only do we not have access to indigent care but we also have millions more people uses them than before due to illegal and legal immigrants coming in from all over the world.
Yet all our so called ' servants ' have the best of care and it is all FREE for them.
Anyone think of other reasons we are now getting less quality care for more money?

 

Trial lawyers, the Plaintiff's bar, and their persistent efforts to stifle meaningful tort reform is another reason our medical care has declined.

 

Having 'for profit' institutions provide healthcare to a nation is not the best way to keep costs down...

 

I'm not sure what the "best" way would be. Do you think mandating "nonprofits" to provide healthcare would keep costs down? Or should it just be government?

Can you point to an example of another market where nonprofits or government delivers lower cost products? Could Government Motors compete with profit grubbingToyota? Where do you buy food? Should we have nonprofit grocery stores and government restaurants? I know it seems counter intuitive, but the the results are all around you. If it is a competitive profit-driven market, it is a race to give you the most value for the fewest dollars.

The government has totally screwed up healthcare to save you money. Prices have soared on both healthcare and the insurance you need. Because they clamped down and stopped competition. You are too stupid to pick the providers you need is the philosophy.

It is funny that in a couple areas prices have plunged and the technology has exploded. You want lasic? Infinitely cheaper and more effective than years ago precisely because it falls out of your government regulated insurance program. Same thing goes for cosmetic surgery. Yeah, you have to pay for it, so the providers have to work really hard to reduce the costs and attract your business.

 

I don't see healthcare as being in the same category as consumer goods/services - so not examples that speak to my sensibilities.

And yes, I do think healthcare should be provided by the government. Corporate taxes could go a long way to provide a universal system. It should, however, be run by an appointed and highly qualified/specialized private service rather than the government.

 

Interestingly enough, that's exactly what we had in this country pre nanny state, and surprise surprise, costs were reasonable and the standard of care very high. This is due to something called "competition," to many other factors such as the lack of the duplicative "regulatory state" that taxpayers pay out the nose for, all the while enriching a group of people called "trial lawyers" whose tv ads you support every time you vote Democrat.

Then there is our glorious Complex MSM, that poisons the public into believing that doctors and nurses commit drunken malpractice daily while they steal illicit drugs they are addicted to from the hospital pharmacy, dozens of other litigation enriching "themes."

Then along came Medicare in the 60s, and costs shot up over time. Just like how education costs shot up once the government got involved in student loans. Just like housing costs shot up once the government got involved in mortgages. Wonder what the common denominator is? What could it be, what could it be?

 

How American Healthcare Went From Best In World To Worst

Partisan opinions from those wanting government run health care. It is still the best in the world.

 

What bothers me is that the government has really gone out of it's way to make you think you aren't paying for it and driven the cost up as a result. Ask yourself why you can watch a football game and see 15 auto insurance companies ads, and no ads for health insurance? The answer is that you have little or no choice for the latter because it is tied to your employer who is required to pretend they are paying for half of it while making the choice of company for you. And of course they choose the insurer that is the best deal for your employer, not you. Thank you Uncle Sam for making my employer lower my salary by a $1k/month and then choose my insurance for me. And thank you for preventing me from buying insurance from an out-of-state company. And why can't you decide in July that Humana sucks egg whites and switch to another company? You can only switch in a prescribed sign up period.

Disentangle employment, government, and health insurance and the results would be miraculous. Aaron Rogers, Peyton Manning, geckos, and "we know a thing or two" guys would be all over the tube trying to undercut each other and sell you health insurance. And you would be free to choose the best deal.

My favorite model of a healthcare system comes from a favorite book, The Undercover Economist (which I highly recommend.) Tim Harford (IIRC) describes roughly how the system works in Singapore. The only government involvement is to put your first X number of dollars into basically a Health Savings Account which actually belongs to you. If you want to blow it on acupuncture, it is your call. You can buy insurance from anyone you like or healthcare from anyone you like. If you have little or no income, the government puts X number of dollars in your account for you. If you die, your heirs get the money. If the total goes over a certain amount you can simply withdraw it and spend it on anything you choose. But everyone is expected to be an informed consumer, because you pick your insurance and your doctor.

 

HSAs - like the one from Singapore you referenced - have been growing in popularity since the start of the 2000s. In Canada and the US, they have tax implications associated with their usage - so it isn't as simple as it is in Singapore - and it isn't as valuable as an insurance product in case of catastrophic illness.

As for the employer making your choices for you....I understand your point. And it's a good one. But because the employer has skin in the game, they will be the one making the choice. And, after all, it is a benefit to the employee...not a 'right'.

 

Yes, the tax implications and regulations over HSA usage prevent them from being really effective. Likewise, over-regulation of insurance products drives prices up. I should be able to use proceeds from my HSA the buy a policy that covers catastrophic illness or injury and nothing more. That would be relatively cheap and keep me out of bankruptcy. But why should insurance cover a flu shot and an annual checkup? Those are not unexpected expenses. My auto insurance does not cover tuneups, oil changes, or fill ups at Texaco.

I have to disagree that your employer really has much "skin in the game." Your salary offer was discounted to account for what they pay to Aetna (and Social Security, and Workman's comp, etc). I have known a couple of people who had their own insurance and were able to negotiate a substantially higher salary. I once had an employer that would annually print your compensation package up and give it to you. It included ALL that stuff in the bottom line. I looked at it and wondered why only half that is in my paycheck!

 

By what standard is U.S. healthcare "the worst in the world"?

 

U.S. ranks 27th in infant mortality and the same for longevity. Our health care cost per capita is $10,224 much more than any other country. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org...-spend-half-much-per-person-health-u-s-spends

 

Study after study have shown the "public option" would lower cost but break the insurance industry. Medicare is far more cost effective than private insurance. Currently, the U.S. spends $10224 per capita on health coverage. Far above countries with universal coverage. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org...-spend-half-much-per-person-health-u-s-spends

 

Whereas I will see 15 health care related ads and one footy ad

Mind you that is mostly because you don’t have to sell the footy here whereas you have to convince the young to get regular STD checks

 

It ranks worst among industrialised nations

 

Its the non-paying leeches who show up at for profit hospitals demanding free healthcare that drive up costs for paying customers

 

I see zero heath insurance ads. A ton of pharma ads telling you to "ask your doctor if ************** is right for you." And no ads for STD checks. Plenty for ED treatment. But no ads actually trying to sell health insurance. Because you really don't have a choice. But I assume you are not watching American TV.

 

The question was "by what standard?" Not whether you agree.

 

So when you need urgent open heart surgery do you request quotes from surgeons on the open market and then pick the lowest price because that is the best deal?

If not, why not?

Isn't that how you go about buying a new car?

So why is your urgent open heart surgery different to buying a new car?

 

So, having for profit cell phone companies hasn't kept the price down in that sector? For profit institutions have kept the price down and innovations high since the beginning of "for profit". Why would the "for profit" model not work in the health care field?

 

Its a shell game really. To get universal health care, the middle class is taxed at 60% on income and 25% VAT. Not to mention none of those countries can defend themselves. Americans have the longest life spans of any country in the world barring some fatal accident.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2011/11/23/the-myth-of-americans-poor-life-expectancy/

 

The first problem here is people thinking healthcare should be cheap. Let’s start with doctors, who save lives and have to study, train and work very hard (some very stressful) to acquire experience, skills and rapport with patients. Doctors are not cheap; if anything, they should make even more. Why do we reward men who jump around like acrobats and throw a ball in hoop much more than we reward people who save lives?

Then you have highly specliazied equipment, drugs that save lives etc.,, it’s expensive and this is why in a private system it’s expensive and in a single payer or government run system, it’s expensive. Moving to a single payer system will not be cheap, it’s a fantasy land to think the cost of drugs, doctors, equipment will just disappear, it will just show up in taxes and maybe spread more evenly.

We also like to talk about cost to patient as if the companies making the equipment, doctors and drugs makers are less important. It’s a balance, how do you improve healthcare by just making things cheaper for patients (consumer) without paying the suplier a price comensurate to the value they add? Start paying nothing for doctors, drugs, equipment and those in between and see healthcare quality drop substantially.

Lastly, to say a for profit system equates to expensive ignores the multitude of ‘for profit’ industries that have brought down costs considerably and have to fight governmeng regulations to keep costs down. It’s not that simple... there is a lot broken with the system and it’s much more than just ‘they make profits’.

 

Cell phones have nothing to do with healthcare. Not, even remotely, an apt comparison.

Insurance companies are in the business of making money - not helping people. They lose money when claims are made - so they will do all they can to ensure claims are paid in the minimum number of circumstances.

Private hospitals are in business to make money. That is a massive conflict of interests when people arrive at their doors without money or insurance.

 

You are absolutely correct about car insurance and maintenance costs - I use that example myself frequently.

And yes, insurance is part of the compensation package. But employers are looking for group solutions at the best possible price. They take into account those services that are not used by employees and cut them out over time. They also tend to look at products or services that are abused by employees - and take the out. The best option, when possible, is a measure of self insurance with a high deductible for catastrophic coverage.