3 ms·
They can’t hold down costs because they’re just a competing payer in a large, dysfunctional system whose overall costs are determined by the sum total of this d
by claudeganon 7y ago
They can’t hold down costs because they’re just a competing payer in a large, dysfunctional system whose overall costs are determined by the sum total of this dysfunction and the general trajectory of healthcare outcomes it produces.
I’m sure you’re quite aware of this, as well as the difference between having a monopoly on payments, continuity of care, and “adding a bunch of 30 year olds” to the system, but feel free to waste more time with these obfuscations. A defense of the status quo isn’t really helped by them.
- tptacek 7y agoNo. Medicare does not in fact meaningfully compete with private insurance in the markets it serves. It is a universal entitlement for US senior citizens.
- claudeganon 7y agoYes, I should’ve been more precise in saying they are one payer in a system of many payers vying for lower prices from healthcare suppliers. But as I’ve stated multiple times and what you seem to be purposefully ignoring to defend your position, the overall costs of these services are determined not only by how they’re consumed by Medicare beneficiaries, but by overall functioning of the healthcare system and continuity of care throughout its beneficiaries’ lifetimes. You can very clearly understand that the price of any given procedure is not determined by how it is consumed and paid for by one segment of the market, but by all of its consumption and the interactions around it. A given surgery or hospital stay is is not something consumed exclusively by Medicare beneficiaries so they are not the sole determinants of its price.