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Is your theory that medical research and innovation is why it's so outrageously expensive to get stitches to close a wound?
by tstrimple 4y ago
Is your theory that medical research and innovation is why it's so outrageously expensive to get stitches to close a wound?
- WalterBright 4y agoThe expense comes from the cost of poor people getting free emergency room treatment getting passed on to the paying customers.
- ceejayoz 4y agoNo, it doesn't. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-06147-9 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-06147-9 > The overall mean for charity care as percent of total expenses was 2.62% for for-profit hospitals compared with 2.95% for nonprofit hospitals...
- WalterBright 4y agoThat's total expenses, not emergency room expenses.
- ceejayoz 4y agoYes, and much of that small, single-digit percentage of charity hospital expenses will be that sort of care. It's a rounding error on their books. Stitches are costly whether you're in the ER or in the ICU after surgery. Forcing poor folks to rely on the ER for treatment is silly, and needlessly expensive, but it's hardly the primary driver of healthcare cost rises.