The Real Problem With Health Care In America

Charge Data from a Private Hospital. It does not get much better at County Hospitals or State Hospitals. This is one of the cornerstone problems with Socializing Medicine or Communizing Medicine in the United States. The charges levied by your hospital are simply insurmountable for most individuals. Insurance companies won't cover all these charges - so you end up getting a secondary bill in the mail.

What you see here are just 37 of nearly 7,000 different hospital charges. At least this hospital made theirs transparent and downloadable. Most hospitals don't want to do this. This is precisely WHY you can have a small 3-4 day stay in a hospital and walk out with a bill for hundreds or thousands of dollars in uncovered costs mailed to you later.

If you are unfortunate and have a longer 3-4 week stay in a hospital, this explains HOW your bill could reach into the Tens of Thousands in uncovered costs mailed to you later. So, not only do you have to deal with your recovery process, but also the headache of figuring out how to come up with the uncovered costs.

Down the list, I saw a Latex Glove costing almost $200. Flue Vaccine Administration costing nearly $150. A Bladder Cath Insertion costing nearly $400. Blood Transfusion costing nearly $1,500. Nursery Care costing nearly $800. Newborn Hearing Check costing nearly $1,000. All the IC (Intensive Care) charges go through the roof on an itemized basis. A single Isolated Room Charge goes up over $1,400. Various kinds of Injections ranging from $150 to over $200 each.

There is no way this side of the Saturn, that with a national debt projected to grow well beyond $22 Trillion by end of 2020, that this country can afford Socialized Medicine or Communist Medicine. We don't have internal cost structures at the Point of Treatment that would support such a model.

Any Candidate for President or any Politician for that matter who refused to explain to you how they intend to deal with the cost structure problem from the bottom-up, starting with Hospital Charges for individual treatments is not shooting straight with you and is in fact lying directly to your face about how their plan will "Cover America."

I've never seen a single Politician hold a Town Hall Meeting, hold up a document showing the real costs of Health Care in America and then tell the truth to its constituency about how these Charges would be addressed. If you don't deal with these charges, you cannot solve the Health Care Crisis in America.

 

Partial List sorted from Highest to Lowest. There are nearly 7,000 itemized charges in this Charge Data document:

 

For naught. There is one, and only one problem with healthcare in America, it's not capitalism.

 

More from the Partial List of nearly 7,000 charges. You can buy a House and a New Car, or you can go to the Hospital. Take your pick. Politicians are lying to you about the real problem:



I could be all day posting these as I'd need to scroll down page by page in Excel before cutting and pasting. What a mess. This is the REAL problem with Health Care in America.

 

Turning something over to the government does not make it cheaper. It makes it more expensive.

 

Nothing wrong with Capitalism conducted Morally. The problem is Greed. Need your Appendix removed? Ok, here you go:



Got Money? Cause Milk won't pay for this.

 

Ya... thats why we pay the most of any industrialized nation for healthcare. FAR greater than that of other nations with universal coverage.

but keep lying to people.


The REAL reason that conservatives dont like universal health care is because it doesnt punish people for what they perceive as a bad decision by the patient. They believe that someone who is to poor to pay for health care doesnt deserve health care. That those people should be punished for decisions they may have made many years ago.

Your a smoker? Die.
Didnt exercise enough? Die.
Didnt eat right? Die.
Homeless and not a penny to your name? Die.

I should clarify one thing here. They dont WANT that person to die. But they see it as a rightous outcome based on a personal responsibility. So while they might not WANT you to die. They certainly dont care if you do, and in many cases will just say you deserved it. Its well known conservatives lack empathy.

 

Not according to Bernie. He wants the Government to pay for these charges. The problem is Structural and Internal to the Delivery Mechanism. It is also Structural and Internal to the Support Infrastructure (Pharma, Med Equip, etc.). The whole system is predicated on the Financial Rape of Americans. All the while both Politicians and Industry laugh at us on their way to the big bank after gouging us into financial ruin like this. This Charging Data does not lie. Politicians and the rest of the Delivery Chain lies all the time, however. They lie about why these costs have to be so extreme.

 

Need Thyroid Therapy? There you go right here. I've got your Therapy right here:



This is wrong on all levels. Just wrong.

 

Need a Colonoscopy with Biopsy? Got that right here:



Don't even think about going to the Hospital. You can't afford it.

 

Need an MRI on your Abdomen? Coming right up:



What are you going to do. Tell your Doctor, "No. I don't want that MRI. Thank you very much. I'll pass."

 

Wow, that's pretty insane. I hope your Health care system is getting better (cheaper for ordinary people) - America is Really Rich,.. thing is that how money is distributed (taxes & service).

 

The devil has always been in the Charging Data Details. Now that you know why, how do you solve the problem? Bernie, wants to give you what is tantamount to the same kind of Health Care that is found in Russia, today. People are mistaking what Bernie is prescribing by calling in Socialized Medicine in error. Bernie, did not declare that today. What he declared today was tantamount to straight up Communist Style Medicine where the government takes over everything. Not just payments - but every thing. He's talking about Zero Deductible and Zero Co-Pay (except in special circumstances that he never defines or explains).

Health Care is already in Crisis Mode here in America. What are you going to do with Politicians who refuse to show you these Charging Costs and never shoot straight with you about WHY our Health Care System is now completely out of touch with reality because the underlying cost structures are literally from another Galaxy? These are not Milky Way cost structures. These are beyond the Andromeda Galaxy cost structures. What do you do about it as a Republican or a Democrat? What's the Conservative approach for solving this? What's the Liberal approach to solving this?

This is what financial crisis looks like. This is what destroys some families financially, causing some of them to declare bankruptcy. That's insane. Yet, we don't address the issue at its core: Charges.

 

I suspect that you are one of those people who has no idea how health insurance actually works, and no idea how much yours actually costs or what it covers until you try and use it. Most Americans are in that category.

If most people had any idea what size check their employer writes for their insurance (even if part of it is paid out of the employees pay) they'd be shocked.

BTW, under the ACA, insurance companies can no longer cap the maximum amount that they will pay on a policy.

So your scare scenario is not nearly as bad as it once was.

But take heart!

Your fuhrer wants to bring it back!

 

Wow! Zero deductible, Zero co pay! Just like in all the civilized countries.

You'd rather write checks????

That's what you keep saying.

 

Need some teeth extracted? That's fine - no problem. Here ya go:



Seriously? Yep, seriously. I think they call it Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. When you check out of the hospital, go straight to the county clerks office and file for Chapter 7. It may be the only way out. How sad. How completely insane. Yet, you will go out in 2020 and lay down your vote for a Politician who will lie directly to your face about WHY this insanity should continue. Wake up, people. You are being Financially Raped and told to simply: Take it up the @%$@%! by your Politicians.

 

It won't be getting better for the "ordinary people" because if the "ordinary person" needs (for example) a Laparoscopic Biopsy, this is what it will cost:



If that person's insurance company won't cover it, or only covers part of it, that "ordinary person" gets a secondary bill in the mail to cover the differential. Our system is predicated on Greed, not the health of the individual. Pure unadulterated greed sits at the foundation of these numbers.

 

Then your observations are of those who fit into the category of American who assumes too much.

And, what precisely drives the "size" of the check the employer rights, one. Two, who do you think ultimately pays for the "size" of the check the employer writes to the insurance company?

What good is a "cap" when costs are ultimately (always) transferred right back to the The People?

I suspect (based on what you've written thus far) that you may be one of those people who has no idea how the Macro Economics works. That "check" written by the employer you mention above (yeah that one), well you see that same "employer" is also the "Producer" and/or the "Supplier" in the Macro Economy. The "employee" is on the "Demand" side of that same Macro Economy. Supply will pass its higher costs (that check you mentioned above) to Demand in the form of higher retail prices at a different level and in a different dimension of the same Macro Economy. Cost Shifting is not a new concept in our broader economy. The higher insurance costs for the employer will result (sooner or later) in higher prices for the consumer (employee).

It all rolls down hill. So, the shell game of Cost Shifting taking place on the top side of the economy matter not to the bottom line Micro Economics of the Consumer. This is why you must deal with the issue at its Source and Origin. Where are the astronomical costs being generated and WHY are they so astronomical? You won't solve this problem with Cost Shifting, as the negative impact will at some point hit the Consumer. Meanwhile, you have the Federal Reserve continually printing fiat currency and flooding the economy with a false sense of "wealth" and driving up credit levels. How many people have maxed out credit cards with Health Care charges a the number #1 cost center on their bill?

And, you don't think this is a Conspiracy? Come on. You've got to be smarter than that. You know better. This is a Scam and I'm demonstrating how the scam works here. Get your Liberal Politicians to sit down with you and talk to straight forwardly like this about Central Health Care Costs and they will pass out after turning blue in the face. Ain't gonna happen.

Bernie, is lying to you. You are eating it up - but you are not doing the appropriate homework or you are concealing what you know to be the truth about this Scam.

Bernie, said today, that the fight for Health Care was a "fight for the heart and soul of who we are as Americans." Really? Do I really want the Government owning my heart and my soul, or making determinations about how my heart and soul are treated in a hospital? Do I want the Government deciding that, or do I want to retain control over that with my personally selected Doctor, which Obama promised but lied about in his delivery?

He's not mine. I did not vote for him. However, I don't see a Communistic take-over of Health Care as being anything other than complete and utter scam-in-your-face. They've been pushing the Scam for so long, they believe they can dangle Communistic Medicine right under your nose without you being able to distinguish it from Socialize Medicine, which won't work either because our core cost structures are so completely out of whack and the control mechanisms for how your "care" is administered don't match countries like Sweden or Norway. So, we cannot do Socialized Medicine here either. It would be total anarchy - worse than what we have right now.

You MUST get these unrealistic costs under control before moving forward with any so-called overhaul of the system. Health Care is not merely about the "size" of the "check" employers write. It is a fundamental hook upon which our Macro Economy is based. The reason? The absurd costs that I'm outlining in this thread for you. There is no other way around this problem. The question is: What will Americans do to get these costs under control?

 

You are sorely missing the point. There is no such thing as a free lunch. I just explained the Macro Economic reality behind this truth. You will see costs rise in other areas of the economy or you will see the value of your USD decline or you will see both as credit continues to climb. This is only exacerbated in a low interest rate environment where credit rises even faster and to a greater extent. This problem is compounded when personal savings are not rising commensurate with an increase in wages and earnings. These Health Care costs are not declining - they are rising. And, they are rising from already astronomical levels to begin with.

So, how much GDP do you want to spend on Health Care exactly? Do you want a Health Care Economy or a New Energy Technology Economy? Which one do you think has a real future in America? Do you prefer putting your capital into new approaches to Photovoltaic Technologies or would you rather dump your capital into new Penis Dorsal Lateral Slit approaches that cost this much:



Remember. Whether your employer writes that "check" or not - this cost will ultimately work its way right back to your bottom line outflows in the broader economy.

 

The stats are a reflection, not a cause. The cause is government interference in the marketplace; the solution is capitalism. The cost is not the problem, the government driving up the cost is. And the cause of the government interference in the marketplace is the unholy vice of altruism; the solution is, be selfish.
Want cheap healthcare? Be selfish; self-sacrifice won't get it done.

 

The cost of the bureaucratization of health care.

 

Charge amount does not equal billed amount

 

Predicated on greed? Oh, if only that were true. Unfortunately, it is not. Our healthcare system is predicated on the principle of self-sacrifice. If doctors were really greedy, they'd fight for the system that gives them the best value for their best effort, capitalism. If patients were really greedy, they'd fight for the system that gives them the best healthcare at the cheapest price, capitalism. And if the Progressives were truly selfish, they'd fight for a system that brings out the best in us to reach as high as we can reach, capitalism, the only true way one can progress. Any way you look at it, the last thing America's present healthcare is, is greedy.

Ayn Rand: "If it is true that what I mean by “selfishness” is not what is meant conventionally, then this is one of the worst indictments of altruism: it means that altruism permits no concept of a self-respecting, self-supporting man—a man who supports his life by his own effort and neither sacrifices himself nor others. It means that altruism permits no view of men except as sacrificial animals and profiteers-on-sacrifice, as victims and parasites—that it permits no concept of a benevolent co-existence among men—that it permits no concept of justice."http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/selfishness.html

 

How did government cause this Epidural Blood Patch to cost:



I agree that regulatory controls on the support side of the Medical Industry have to be in place, else malpractice and liability lawsuits would go through the rough as the tools, instruments and medical products Doctors and Hospitals use to do their jobs would have a higher failure rate (a plausible scenario). However, has to be well understood that this Epidural Blood Patch did not cost anywhere near this much to R&D, Manufacture and Deliver to the hospital. Profit is not a problem. Greed is the problem.


The cost is not the problem, the government driving up the cost is. And the cause of the government interference in the marketplace is the unholy vice of altruism; the solution is, be selfish.
Want cheap healthcare? Be selfish; self-sacrifice won't get it done.[/QUOTE]

Exactly how did government drive up the cost of this Epidural Blood Patch? What does it take to produce a Blood Patch without its production becoming cost prohibitive? What happens to Boeing Aircraft that don't have to go through the FAA Transport Category Certification process? Do we get 737 Max issues or not? Do you want a company producing Medical Supplies, Tools and Equipment without oversight or not? Do you want Hospitals operating without oversight or not? Why does oversight and regulation have to lead to other worldly cost structures that make access to private health care a pipe dream for average Americans?

Even the wealthy are paying these exhortation costs - except they can afford it. So, to them, this is not a problem. However, to many this is definitely a serious problem not being straightforwardly addressed by any Politician in sight. They all dance around the issue of Costs and the reasons behind the Costs.

Do you think that removing regulatory controls completely away from a Pharmaceutical would lower overall health care costs? If so, how. How about removing all regulatory controls from medical equipment manufacturers - would that lower overall costs associated with a 1-week stay in a hospital? If so, how.

Neither the Right nor the Left is telling the truth about this problem.

 

Exactly how did government drive up the cost of this Epidural Blood Patch? What does it take to produce a Blood Patch without its production becoming cost prohibitive? What happens to Boeing Aircraft that don't have to go through the FAA Transport Category Certification process? Do we get 737 Max issues or not? Do you want a company producing Medical Supplies, Tools and Equipment without oversight or not? Do you want Hospitals operating without oversight or not? Why does oversight and regulation have to lead to other worldly cost structures that make access to private health care a pipe dream for average Americans?

Even the wealthy are paying these exhortation costs - except they can afford it. So, to them, this is not a problem. However, to many this is definitely a serious problem not being straightforwardly addressed by any Politician in sight. They all dance around the issue of Costs and the reasons behind the Costs.

Do you think that removing regulatory controls completely away from a Pharmaceutical would lower overall health care costs? If so, how. How about removing all regulatory controls from medical equipment manufacturers - would that lower overall costs associated with a 1-week stay in a hospital? If so, how.

Neither the Right nor the Left is telling the truth about this problem.[/QUOTE]
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I know the laws of economics. And in economics, the free market will always give you the best quality at the best price. In a free market, no one can coerce anyone into paying someone's healthcare, paying more than the market price for healthcare, or being paid less than your market value. Its the nature of a free market, free men trading freely that which is theirs for that which they want.

These numbers are fundamentally as useless as counting sore spots on a measles victim; the sore spots are an effect, not the cause, just like today's healthcare costs.

As to the Boeing problem, the FAA didn't prevent any accidents; and only Boeing's desire to remain profitable will fix it and stop future accidents. You are safer relying Boeing's greed than a bureaucrat's pencil.​