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A too quick guide to American healthcare. * American healthcare is too expensive. The problem is long known and nobody wants to solve it. That problem is admin

A too quick guide to American healthcare. * American healthcare is too expensive. The problem is long known and nobody wants to solve it. That problem is administrative inefficiency. Solving that problem means terminating the a large segment of a massive industry (destroying a massive number of jobs). Drugs are expensive too, but drug pricing problems impacts specific persons that when averaged across the entirety of the population become only a tiny part of the industry wide problem. Since medicine is expensive everybody is reliant upon insurance. The options are private insurance (expensive), employer offered insurance, and government insurance (designed for low income people and poor choices/service). The exceptions are Obama care and military. Military has a wonderful health insurance plan called Tricare. Tricare is great for the patient because they cover just about everything but they are really hard about releasing funds to medical providers so some medical providers refuse to take Tricare. Obama care is a new private insurance option from the government that provides an affordable insurance option partially subsidized by government funding. I have known people who are not insured and refused to get insurance then just never go to the doctor. Wonderful medical insurance is a primary reason I remained employed by the military for a number of years.

entropea 5y ago
Medicaid also works great. https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/medicaid-works-millions-benefit-from-medicaids-effective-efficient-coverage https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/medicaid-works-millions...
gorbachev 5y ago
Also relevant. Medical debt is the number one reason for personal bankruptcies in the US. It's absolutely shameful.
handrous 5y ago
> * American healthcare is too expensive. The problem is long known and nobody wants to solve it. That problem is administrative inefficiency. Solving that problem means terminating the a large segment of a massive industry (destroying a massive number of jobs). Drugs are expensive too, but drug pricing problems impacts specific persons that when averaged across the entirety of the population become only a tiny part of the industry wide problem. My impression from looking at this for many years now is that the problem is everything. Every single individual and entity involved—and that's a whole bunch—is taking too much money. That's why it's so hard to point at any one problem and dig deeper and fine all the money. Every time, you find some of it, and usually a lot, but not all of it. Doctors and other people actually providing care? Too few of them, and (or, "therefore") they're making too much money. Hospitals? Consolidation of hospitals and smaller providers into "networks"? Yes and yes, but still, that's not all. Administration costs? Yep, but not all of it. Insurance overhead? Yes, but... well, you get the idea.

entropea 5y ago

Medicaid also works great. https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/medicaid-works-millions-benefit-from-medicaids-effective-efficient-coverage https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/medicaid-works-millions...

gorbachev 5y ago

Also relevant. Medical debt is the number one reason for personal bankruptcies in the US. It's absolutely shameful.

handrous 5y ago

> * American healthcare is too expensive. The problem is long known and nobody wants to solve it. That problem is administrative inefficiency. Solving that problem means terminating the a large segment of a massive industry (destroying a massive number of jobs). Drugs are expensive too, but drug pricing problems impacts specific persons that when averaged across the entirety of the population become only a tiny part of the industry wide problem. My impression from looking at this for many years now is that the problem is everything. Every single individual and entity involved—and that's a whole bunch—is taking too much money. That's why it's so hard to point at any one problem and dig deeper and fine all the money. Every time, you find some of it, and usually a lot, but not all of it. Doctors and other people actually providing care? Too few of them, and (or, "therefore") they're making too much money. Hospitals? Consolidation of hospitals and smaller providers into "networks"? Yes and yes, but still, that's not all. Administration costs? Yep, but not all of it. Insurance overhead? Yes, but... well, you get the idea.