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There is a relevant speech by a surgeon who along with other doctors started their own practice [1]. It's called "Why Aren't There More Free Market Surgery Cent

There is a relevant speech by a surgeon who along with other doctors started their own practice [1]. It's called "Why Aren't There More Free Market Surgery Centers and Clinics". > The last two payments I received from Medicare were as follows: $285 for a six-hour cardiac anesthetic and $78 for the anesthesia services required for a knee replacement. These fees had been imposed through a mechanism referred to as the resource-based relative value scale, more appropriately called the Rosemary’s baby of healthcare. According to the folks at Harvard who gave birth to this creature, every physician service had a price and they knew what those prices were. > Prices are signals, after all, and Medicare was sending me a signal regarding what they thought the service I provided was worth, or they meant to intentionally cull the ranks. I felt obligated to respond with a rational signal of my own and as I’ve mentioned, I quit participating in their scheme. > To further bolster this bankrupt-hospital narrative, physicians and surgeons were told there was no money to buy the equipment and supplies they needed. It was becoming increasingly obvious that it was time to get out. I had no desire to be controlled by the rising administrator class. Next he discusses how under the guise of protection of customers and care about the citizens, government (lobbied by hospitals) tried to close their practice up because they charged 1/10th of what "not-for-profit" hospitals did. https://mises.org/wire/why-arent-there-more-free-market-surgery-centers-and-clinics https://mises.org/wire/why-arent-there-more-free-market-surg...

handrous 5y ago
Every other developed country I'm aware of uses price controls for their healthcare system, usually by declaring price lists regardless of payer, by establishing a state-directed monopsony, or by taking direct control of healthcare providers. Clearly it can work since AFAIK everyone is doing it, and it seems to be basically fine. Not perfect, but fine.
- janeroe 5y ago
  And that's why author's practice survived despite the hostility of the US government. They started treating Canadian patients: > The first patients to arrive after we posted prices were Canadians. This was instructive, as these patients had so-called insurance coverage. There was no access, however, to the care that many of them required. The most common story then as now for the Canadians was a patient waiting two years to see a gynecologist for a hysterectomy to stop their bleeding, bleeding usually so severe that intermittent transfusions were required. For $8,000, which covers the facility, surgeon, anesthesia, pathology, and an overnight stay at the surgery center, Canadians can end their nightmare. The first question a Canadian asks when they call us is how long they’ll have to wait. Our answer that there is no waiting time is met with disbelief. A Canadian friend of mine has told me the old joke that no Canadian is truly content unless standing in line. All thanks to the success of a "state-directed monopsony" of a "developed country".

handrous 5y ago

Every other developed country I'm aware of uses price controls for their healthcare system, usually by declaring price lists regardless of payer, by establishing a state-directed monopsony, or by taking direct control of healthcare providers. Clearly it can work since AFAIK everyone is doing it, and it seems to be basically fine. Not perfect, but fine.

janeroe 5y ago
And that's why author's practice survived despite the hostility of the US government. They started treating Canadian patients: > The first patients to arrive after we posted prices were Canadians. This was instructive, as these patients had so-called insurance coverage. There was no access, however, to the care that many of them required. The most common story then as now for the Canadians was a patient waiting two years to see a gynecologist for a hysterectomy to stop their bleeding, bleeding usually so severe that intermittent transfusions were required. For $8,000, which covers the facility, surgeon, anesthesia, pathology, and an overnight stay at the surgery center, Canadians can end their nightmare. The first question a Canadian asks when they call us is how long they’ll have to wait. Our answer that there is no waiting time is met with disbelief. A Canadian friend of mine has told me the old joke that no Canadian is truly content unless standing in line. All thanks to the success of a "state-directed monopsony" of a "developed country".