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Normally people create downward pressure on prices by not buying the product when it becomes overpriced. However with healthcare there is a captive market. Ar
by jandrese 6y ago
Normally people create downward pressure on prices by not buying the product when it becomes overpriced. However with healthcare there is a captive market. Are you not going to get a cast put on a broken leg because the doctor wants to charge too much? Are you going to just opt out of cancer treatments and die?
Healthcare is an area where market forces are inherently perverted because people often don't have a choice of not buying the service. This is why every sensible country uses a socialized system instead. Not only does it provide better service, but without the perverse market incentives and multiple layers of middlemen infesting the system it is much less expensive.
- jokethrowaway 6y agoYou still have a choice between competing hospitals / doctors in a system where prices are not inflated for insurances' catalogues.
- shirakawasuna 6y agoThe best time to shop around for the best deal is after you've been hit by a car and are having trouble breathing.
- TimBurr 6y agoThat would be true iff prices were disclosed upfront and the pricing model was clear. I had a hospital experience recently where the surgeon provided one bill, the hospital a second, and the anesthesiologist a third. Only the surgeon's pricing was available ahead of time. The hospital provided an invoice at the time of surgery, marked as "SUBJECT TO CHANGE". The anesthesiologist himself didn't know how much his services would cost. Three weeks later, we're still watching invoices and insurance claims roll in. Medical tourism is a direct testament to inflated charges as a systematic problem. Finding a hospital with non-inflated costs requires crossing international borders.