5 ms·

I used to work at a med school, and often I would be in the classroom. Once the Dean gave a presentation over the true cost of healthcare in the US. What was hi

I used to work at a med school, and often I would be in the classroom. Once the Dean gave a presentation over the true cost of healthcare in the US. What was his final conclusion to the class? No one knows the true cost of healthcare. It's nonsensical. The situation with healthcare in the US has been beyond ridiculous for quite some time. Often the conversation centers around those without insurance, but being under-insured is just as much of an issue. We need to decouple healthcare from employment. We need a single-payer system. This would save everyone money on healthcare in the long run.

mywittyname 7y ago
My partner works at a hospital billing insurance companies and nobody there can even figure out what prices are. They can't optimize their work based on price because a $700k bill might end up bringing in $30k in revenue, while a $45k bill might bring in $35k. Hospitals basically need an army of lawyers to renegotiate costs on a per-patient basis. Talk about efficiency! Medicare/Medicaid literally keep most hospitals afloat. They are basically the only insurer who is fair and pays consistently.
mises 7y ago
> single-payer system Why could I not buy my own insurance? Or why can't I self-insure? If I want to pay for the best, I ought to be able to buy it (again, if I will pay). There's a difference between actual single-payer (in which there is a single entity which pays, the government) and a government health-care plan. For which are you advocating?
- mAEStro-paNDa 7y ago
  >For which are you advocating? A single-payer system, as I said. >Why could I not buy my own insurance? Or why can't I self-insure? These are leading questions. There exists healthcare systems that are a hybrid of single-payer/private insurance.
  - mises 7y ago
    These are not leading questions. "Single payer" definitionally means there is a single entity which pays, meaning no insurance or private pay. You're using it like it means a government plan; it doesn't. The reason I'm asking is because some politicians are crazy enough to want to prohibit any thing but a government plan, and I don't know where you fall.
    - mAEStro-paNDa 7y ago
      They are leading questions. You're assumptions about single-payer, based on what you think "some politicians" said, are baked into your questions. Again, there exists hybrid systems. Take a look at Spain or Australia. Canada almost exclusively works off it's public system, yet private insurance still has a minor role. Maybe I'm "crazy enough" to think that there should be zero profit-motive in health insurance, but even I can confidently say that a public policy scenario wherein all but a government plan is prohibited just isn't realistic, nor does it reflect what many other western countries have done for 30+ years.

mywittyname 7y ago

My partner works at a hospital billing insurance companies and nobody there can even figure out what prices are. They can't optimize their work based on price because a $700k bill might end up bringing in $30k in revenue, while a $45k bill might bring in $35k. Hospitals basically need an army of lawyers to renegotiate costs on a per-patient basis. Talk about efficiency! Medicare/Medicaid literally keep most hospitals afloat. They are basically the only insurer who is fair and pays consistently.

mises 7y ago

> single-payer system Why could I not buy my own insurance? Or why can't I self-insure? If I want to pay for the best, I ought to be able to buy it (again, if I will pay). There's a difference between actual single-payer (in which there is a single entity which pays, the government) and a government health-care plan. For which are you advocating?

mAEStro-paNDa 7y ago
>For which are you advocating? A single-payer system, as I said. >Why could I not buy my own insurance? Or why can't I self-insure? These are leading questions. There exists healthcare systems that are a hybrid of single-payer/private insurance.
- mises 7y ago
  These are not leading questions. "Single payer" definitionally means there is a single entity which pays, meaning no insurance or private pay. You're using it like it means a government plan; it doesn't. The reason I'm asking is because some politicians are crazy enough to want to prohibit any thing but a government plan, and I don't know where you fall.
  - mAEStro-paNDa 7y ago
    They are leading questions. You're assumptions about single-payer, based on what you think "some politicians" said, are baked into your questions. Again, there exists hybrid systems. Take a look at Spain or Australia. Canada almost exclusively works off it's public system, yet private insurance still has a minor role. Maybe I'm "crazy enough" to think that there should be zero profit-motive in health insurance, but even I can confidently say that a public policy scenario wherein all but a government plan is prohibited just isn't realistic, nor does it reflect what many other western countries have done for 30+ years.