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The US’s healthcare is hardly an example of private businesses going awry. The US’s healthcare is by far the most heavily regulated in the country with a near m

The US’s healthcare is hardly an example of private businesses going awry. The US’s healthcare is by far the most heavily regulated in the country with a near majority of spending by the various governments. We have the worst of both worlds, some kind of Frankenstein’s monster of regulatory capture, government incompetence, and age old corruption. 20% of Medicare billing has been fraudulent for decades and now the government can’t fix it because so many parts of the industry rely on straight up theft. So yes the US health care system needs a push to be more socialized or less regulated, but it’s not some prime example of a free market gone awry.

Ididntdothis 7y ago
“so many parts of the industry rely on straight up theft.” This will be a big issue in any kind of health care reform in the US. if they want to get costs even remotely in line with other countries a lot of people will either lose their job or make much less money. That won’t happen without a lot of resistance.
- maximente 7y ago
  yep, health care reform to single payer will basically guarantee a recession - a huge percentage of GDP/jobs will evaporate over the course of the transition. there is no such thing as having this cake and eating it too: there will be immense pain for a sizable part of the economy whenever this gets tackled.
  - abfan1127 7y ago
    While those who are negatively affected by the reform would suffer, that money doesn't evaporate. It goes elsewhere, so it wouldn't cause a recession on a macro scale. Look into the Broken Window Fallacy in Economics in One Lesson. its a great book.
    - JamesBarney 7y ago
      The money doesn't evaporate, but it very likely would result in less total money spent. And people spending less money is the textbook cause of recessions.
      - abfan1127 7y ago
        if its not spent, its saved somewhere. Very few people put substantial amounts of cash in their mattress. Most goes in the bank, which helps set the rate if interest rates for loans. So, even unspent money goes somewhere and gets spent. Still not a recession.
        JamesBarney 7y ago
        The problem is near term interest rates are near 0, so the casual pathway of money saved -> lower interest rates -> more investment isn't as effective. This is why quantitative easing has so little impact. And a saved dollar is spent less than a spent dollar.
        abfan1127 7y ago
        low interest rates are supposed to provide information regarding the value of money spent vs. money saved. However that function isn't allowed to work. Further quantitative easing add(s|ed) further noise to the flow of money from investment to spending.
- merpnderp 7y ago
  To be fair, a lot of those people are economic parasites, providing no actual good anyone would ever want to exchange money for. So their only economic value was dispersing their earnings as spending. Which whomever that money is directed to will also do, but also while adding service/value people would be willing to pay for.
toolz 7y ago
to add to this statement, keep in mind the U.S. spends way more per capita on socialized medicine than any EU country. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/08/08/how-us-healthcare-spending-per-capita-compares-with-other-countries-infographic/#46f18d8d575d https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/08/08/how-us...

Ididntdothis 7y ago

“so many parts of the industry rely on straight up theft.” This will be a big issue in any kind of health care reform in the US. if they want to get costs even remotely in line with other countries a lot of people will either lose their job or make much less money. That won’t happen without a lot of resistance.

maximente 7y ago
yep, health care reform to single payer will basically guarantee a recession - a huge percentage of GDP/jobs will evaporate over the course of the transition. there is no such thing as having this cake and eating it too: there will be immense pain for a sizable part of the economy whenever this gets tackled.
- abfan1127 7y ago
  While those who are negatively affected by the reform would suffer, that money doesn't evaporate. It goes elsewhere, so it wouldn't cause a recession on a macro scale. Look into the Broken Window Fallacy in Economics in One Lesson. its a great book.
  - JamesBarney 7y ago
    The money doesn't evaporate, but it very likely would result in less total money spent. And people spending less money is the textbook cause of recessions.
    - abfan1127 7y ago
      if its not spent, its saved somewhere. Very few people put substantial amounts of cash in their mattress. Most goes in the bank, which helps set the rate if interest rates for loans. So, even unspent money goes somewhere and gets spent. Still not a recession.
      - JamesBarney 7y ago
        The problem is near term interest rates are near 0, so the casual pathway of money saved -> lower interest rates -> more investment isn't as effective. This is why quantitative easing has so little impact. And a saved dollar is spent less than a spent dollar.
        abfan1127 7y ago
        low interest rates are supposed to provide information regarding the value of money spent vs. money saved. However that function isn't allowed to work. Further quantitative easing add(s|ed) further noise to the flow of money from investment to spending.
merpnderp 7y ago
To be fair, a lot of those people are economic parasites, providing no actual good anyone would ever want to exchange money for. So their only economic value was dispersing their earnings as spending. Which whomever that money is directed to will also do, but also while adding service/value people would be willing to pay for.

toolz 7y ago

to add to this statement, keep in mind the U.S. spends way more per capita on socialized medicine than any EU country. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/08/08/how-us-healthcare-spending-per-capita-compares-with-other-countries-infographic/#46f18d8d575d https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/08/08/how-us...