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sigh The articles go into this - yes, the salaries are higher than expected, but they're a relatively small part of the problem. It's that we consume more car

sigh The articles go into this - yes, the salaries are higher than expected, but they're a relatively small part of the problem. It's that we consume more care than any other country, and by a lot. We have to find a way to reduce demand. That's the problem.

cookiecaper 16y ago
I don't think you can pinpoint that and say "That's the problem". As this thread and article demonstrate, there are plenty of things that all work together to make medicine as astronomically expensive as it currently is. They are all valid and it isn't simply going to go away if we reduce demand. The price may fall to try to drive demand back up, but the medical care received will still be relatively expensive. And it's not like we can just tell people who are sick to sit around and hope not to die. I think there are fewer hypochondriacs than is often represented; most people don't go to the doctor unless they need some medical attention.
old-gregg 16y ago
sigh No it's not. The salaries are in fact the only reason we have this problem, so that's the key to the solution. And no, we don't consume "more care" than any other country (Japanese do way more).
- sachinag 16y ago
  From the series conclusion: "The first [thing we need to own up to] is that most of the “extra” spending is in areas of care. So, please, let’s stop pretending that cost containment can be painless or unnoticed."
- rick888 16y ago
  "No it's not. The salaries are in fact the only reason we have this problem, so that's the key to the solution. And no, we don't consume "more care" than any other country (Japanese do way more)." We should first figure out why it costs doctors so much to go through medical school. I know a few people in medical school right now and they will end up with around $200,000 in debt when they are finished. How can you ever expect to pay this off with an average salary? The problem isn't the salaries. It's the insurance companies. The cost of everything is inflated because the insurance companies cover it for most people (and the hospitals can raise the price to ridiculous levels without the average person noticing) If everyone had to pay out of pocket for most things (and had to use insurance for only emergencies), hospitals wouldn't be able to charge everyone $80 for a bottle of aspirin. The market would naturally lower the cost.
- matwood 16y ago
  There is no single reason, but [edit] doctors salaries are not even a large part of the costs even though they do factor in. Much larger drivers are over use of insurance, and the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors. By overuse of insurance I mean people going to the doctor every time they have a cough and expecting it to be covered and having every routine visit covered. In comparison, I have insurance on my car, but I don't expect it to pay for oil changes. Many people in this country have their health insurance completely backwards. They are over covered for things they should be paying for out of pocket and severely under covered for what insurance should really be there for, a serious, expensive and long term medical issue. When you think about a simple doctors visit and then the paperwork and manpower involved to push it through insurance it's no wonder the costs are through the roof. Many doctors have recognized this and now offer nicely discounted rates for people who simply pay cash at the time of service.
  - kscaldef 16y ago
    I don't know many people who go to the doctor every time they have a cough. Most people seem to just tough it out; even dragging themselves into work sniffling and sneezing, and potentially infecting everyone else in the office. I also know lots of people with chronic low-level pain or other ailments who don't get any medical attention for a variety of reasons (too much hassle, too time consuming, can't get time off work, don't expect the doctor to actually do anything, can't afford the co-pay, etc). Americans don't actually see their doctors more often than citizens of other countries. In fact, exactly the opposite is true. See http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.html http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.h...
InclinedPlane 16y ago
Frankly, if I can trade dollars for increased health or increased life-span I'm going to do it, and be happy to do it even if it means giving up other luxuries (which are worthless without health and life anyway). That's not the problem. The problem is inefficiencies in the system (due to byzantine regulation and taxation, perverse incentives, etc.)

cookiecaper 16y ago

I don't think you can pinpoint that and say "That's the problem". As this thread and article demonstrate, there are plenty of things that all work together to make medicine as astronomically expensive as it currently is. They are all valid and it isn't simply going to go away if we reduce demand. The price may fall to try to drive demand back up, but the medical care received will still be relatively expensive. And it's not like we can just tell people who are sick to sit around and hope not to die. I think there are fewer hypochondriacs than is often represented; most people don't go to the doctor unless they need some medical attention.

old-gregg 16y ago

sigh No it's not. The salaries are in fact the only reason we have this problem, so that's the key to the solution. And no, we don't consume "more care" than any other country (Japanese do way more).

sachinag 16y ago
From the series conclusion: "The first [thing we need to own up to] is that most of the “extra” spending is in areas of care. So, please, let’s stop pretending that cost containment can be painless or unnoticed."
rick888 16y ago
"No it's not. The salaries are in fact the only reason we have this problem, so that's the key to the solution. And no, we don't consume "more care" than any other country (Japanese do way more)." We should first figure out why it costs doctors so much to go through medical school. I know a few people in medical school right now and they will end up with around $200,000 in debt when they are finished. How can you ever expect to pay this off with an average salary? The problem isn't the salaries. It's the insurance companies. The cost of everything is inflated because the insurance companies cover it for most people (and the hospitals can raise the price to ridiculous levels without the average person noticing) If everyone had to pay out of pocket for most things (and had to use insurance for only emergencies), hospitals wouldn't be able to charge everyone $80 for a bottle of aspirin. The market would naturally lower the cost.
matwood 16y ago
There is no single reason, but [edit] doctors salaries are not even a large part of the costs even though they do factor in. Much larger drivers are over use of insurance, and the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors. By overuse of insurance I mean people going to the doctor every time they have a cough and expecting it to be covered and having every routine visit covered. In comparison, I have insurance on my car, but I don't expect it to pay for oil changes. Many people in this country have their health insurance completely backwards. They are over covered for things they should be paying for out of pocket and severely under covered for what insurance should really be there for, a serious, expensive and long term medical issue. When you think about a simple doctors visit and then the paperwork and manpower involved to push it through insurance it's no wonder the costs are through the roof. Many doctors have recognized this and now offer nicely discounted rates for people who simply pay cash at the time of service.
- kscaldef 16y ago
  I don't know many people who go to the doctor every time they have a cough. Most people seem to just tough it out; even dragging themselves into work sniffling and sneezing, and potentially infecting everyone else in the office. I also know lots of people with chronic low-level pain or other ailments who don't get any medical attention for a variety of reasons (too much hassle, too time consuming, can't get time off work, don't expect the doctor to actually do anything, can't afford the co-pay, etc). Americans don't actually see their doctors more often than citizens of other countries. In fact, exactly the opposite is true. See http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.html http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.h...

InclinedPlane 16y ago

Frankly, if I can trade dollars for increased health or increased life-span I'm going to do it, and be happy to do it even if it means giving up other luxuries (which are worthless without health and life anyway). That's not the problem. The problem is inefficiencies in the system (due to byzantine regulation and taxation, perverse incentives, etc.)