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This is true and not really relevant to the point that people who can't afford healthcare get very sick before they go to a doctor and then their care is more e

This is true and not really relevant to the point that people who can't afford healthcare get very sick before they go to a doctor and then their care is more expensive and has worse outcomes. One hospital was having so many resources consumed by a relatively small number of very ill homeless people and concluded that housing them would be cheaper and more effective, so it did. Health care really shouldn't be used to mean medical care per se. And that's one of the things that complicates such discussions. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34397790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34397790

908B64B197 4y ago
> Health care really shouldn't be used to mean medical care per se. And that's one of the things that complicates such discussions. Exactly. Whole hospital floors are completely dedicated to patients with completely preventable diseases with proper lifestyle choices (uncontrolled type-II diabetes, most cardiac and vascular surgeries...). What these people needed a decade or two ago was someone to coach them/engage in a long term discussion about their labs and deteriorating health with them. I can't help to think that defining healthcare exclusively as medical care is an attempt at further gatekeeping from a profession already known for these practices... I mean, what brings in more dollars for the provider, a series of hospitalizations and vascular surgeries or a few hours of consulting and coaching?