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The "for profit" nature of the health industry isn't the problem. The problem is that American voters let the health industry get away with stuff like the frau
by bayesian_horse 8y ago
The "for profit" nature of the health industry isn't the problem.
The problem is that American voters let the health industry get away with stuff like the fraudulent opiate prescription practices...
- lm28469 8y agoThere are so many issues with the US health industry that it's hard to pin point which one is the worst. It's almost an example of what shouldn't be done. For profit isn't an issue per say, but when you add greedy executives in the mix you're in for a disaster. Look at insulin or other basic necessities, companies clearly put profit over people. I don't think that would fly in any other first world country. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/#item-relative-size-wealth-u-s-spends-disproportionate-amount-health https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-... https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-rising-healthcare-costs-4064878 https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-rising-healthcare-costs...
- bayesian_horse 8y agoAgain, other first world countries don't let the health industry get away with highly fractionized buyers which are powerless against service providers.
- vonmoltke 8y agoA few of the "highly fractionized" buyers are larger than most first world national health systems, so that can't be the major issue.
- bayesian_horse 8y agoThere are probably many factors, but there seems to be too little negotiating power on the demand side, even with the bigger insurances. And I assume the bigger buyers are getting better prices, right? Are those buyers bigger by the number of insured members or just according to expense volume? Again, mostly the government should tell the industry to knock it off, mainly by empowering the demand side rather than the supply side.