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> Every regulation is a response to societal pain. This pain has been cutting in too deep for far too long. I feel like the societal pain and the regulatory re

> Every regulation is a response to societal pain. This pain has been cutting in too deep for far too long. I feel like the societal pain and the regulatory response cycle in healthcare in the US is out of control. We have an itch, and we've been scratching it aggressively since the Kennedy Administration. We've scratched so deep we're not scratching, we're digging deep to the bone. Everything that's good about the free market is gone from this system. Prices are not dictated by supply and demand: to the contrary, the suppliers (doctors) and consumers (patients) are the ones farthest from the negotiation of price. Everything that's good about a regulated market is gone from this system. The system is so complex that the only people knowledgeable enough to write regulations are the ones whose profits need to be reigned in the most. The fox is guarding the henhouse. The system is fucked. More regulation will make the system more fucked. Less regulation will make the system more fucked. We're fucked.

bart_spoon 7y ago
> More regulation will make the system more fucked. Less regulation will make the system more fucked. That’s pretty ridiculous given that it essentially concludes there is no way to create a viable healthcare system, when most other first world countries are not having these problems. The issue is that the US system insists on clinging to the idea of a “free market solution”, without any of the crucial ingredients for making a free market solution work. The information regarding who pays what for what services is as opaque as any industry out there. People receiving the health care are different from the people paying for the healthcare, and the how the costs trickle between parties is unapparent until after services are rendered, and even then it’s fairly inscrutable. How is a free market supposed to work when people can’t actually shop around and compare prices? On the other hand, you have massive consolidation and monopoly creation occurring in both the hospital administration field, as well as for insurers and PBMs. Barrier of entry is also sky high, so in reality there is little to no competition going on, which is crucial for any free market solution. The reality is that people need to accept that the functional “free market solutions” simply don’t exist for certain industries, chief among them healthcare.

bart_spoon 7y ago

> More regulation will make the system more fucked. Less regulation will make the system more fucked. That’s pretty ridiculous given that it essentially concludes there is no way to create a viable healthcare system, when most other first world countries are not having these problems. The issue is that the US system insists on clinging to the idea of a “free market solution”, without any of the crucial ingredients for making a free market solution work. The information regarding who pays what for what services is as opaque as any industry out there. People receiving the health care are different from the people paying for the healthcare, and the how the costs trickle between parties is unapparent until after services are rendered, and even then it’s fairly inscrutable. How is a free market supposed to work when people can’t actually shop around and compare prices? On the other hand, you have massive consolidation and monopoly creation occurring in both the hospital administration field, as well as for insurers and PBMs. Barrier of entry is also sky high, so in reality there is little to no competition going on, which is crucial for any free market solution. The reality is that people need to accept that the functional “free market solutions” simply don’t exist for certain industries, chief among them healthcare.