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> The free market is a poor model for providing healthcare. No; a free market has been _proved_ to be good at providing healthcare in the US. What you folks h

> The free market is a poor model for providing healthcare. No; a free market has been _proved_ to be good at providing healthcare in the US. What you folks have now is an utterly corrupt cartel.

kalleboo 9y ago
I feel like I'm walking into a trap now, but when was that proven?
- duncan_bayne 9y ago
  "Friendly societies", back in the day. My understanding is the AMA was formed more or less as a counter to the negotiating power of those societies around pay and conditions.
- com2kid 9y ago
  > I feel like I'm walking into a trap now, but when was that proven? Any elective procedure. If I want to get laser eye surgery done, the price has dropped to 1/10th of what it was when the procedure first debuted. Likewise for common plastic surgeries. Dental care is also interesting, there is actual competition for many cosmetic procedures, although there is of course a price floor, Dentists compete based on reputation and presentations of previous quality work to justify higher prices. Same thing for eye glasses. Eye glasses range from $50 to $500, insurance distorts this a little bit, but the market is generally quite competitive. If you want hand made frames from a local artists, they are as available as $50 mass produced frames. Likewise many lens materials exist, from $20 plastic lens all the way up to $300+ fancy coated materials with some really cool properties (oleophobic lens coatings!). There is also an interesting market for customer requested lab work. If I want to get basic blood work done, I can walk into clinics that specialize in it and request blood work for a fraction of the price my doctor can order it at! Finally DNA testing is another example where an incredibly complex technological process can now be, quite literally, ordered off of Amazon, and mailed off to a processing center. Meanwhile if I break a toe, I get a giant rubber flat sandal from the doctor that is billed at $200, that same boot can be ordered online for under $30!

> The free market is a poor model for providing healthcare. No; a free market has been _proved_ to be good at providing healthcare in the US. What you folks have now is an utterly corrupt cartel.

kalleboo 9y ago

I feel like I'm walking into a trap now, but when was that proven?

duncan_bayne 9y ago
"Friendly societies", back in the day. My understanding is the AMA was formed more or less as a counter to the negotiating power of those societies around pay and conditions.
com2kid 9y ago
> I feel like I'm walking into a trap now, but when was that proven? Any elective procedure. If I want to get laser eye surgery done, the price has dropped to 1/10th of what it was when the procedure first debuted. Likewise for common plastic surgeries. Dental care is also interesting, there is actual competition for many cosmetic procedures, although there is of course a price floor, Dentists compete based on reputation and presentations of previous quality work to justify higher prices. Same thing for eye glasses. Eye glasses range from $50 to $500, insurance distorts this a little bit, but the market is generally quite competitive. If you want hand made frames from a local artists, they are as available as $50 mass produced frames. Likewise many lens materials exist, from $20 plastic lens all the way up to $300+ fancy coated materials with some really cool properties (oleophobic lens coatings!). There is also an interesting market for customer requested lab work. If I want to get basic blood work done, I can walk into clinics that specialize in it and request blood work for a fraction of the price my doctor can order it at! Finally DNA testing is another example where an incredibly complex technological process can now be, quite literally, ordered off of Amazon, and mailed off to a processing center. Meanwhile if I break a toe, I get a giant rubber flat sandal from the doctor that is billed at $200, that same boot can be ordered online for under $30!