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One example: One of Elizabeth Warren's crusades before the banking crisis exposed that 46% of all bankruptcies circa 2007 were medically induced. http://www.p

One example: One of Elizabeth Warren's crusades before the banking crisis exposed that 46% of all bankruptcies circa 2007 were medically induced. http://www.pnhp.org/new_bankruptcy_study/Bankruptcy-2009.pdf http://www.pnhp.org/new_bankruptcy_study/Bankruptcy-2009.pdf It isn't exactly news that the industry maximizes profits. The mere fact that you chose to write "Health care companies seek a profit because innovation takes capital investment, and the only way to build capital is to make a profit" is indicative of the problem. It's almost as if you can't imagine any other means of solving the problem. I don't think you're alone either. In quantitative medical rankings, the US is 33rd in life expectancy and 34th in infant mortality (behind Cuba!) yet is #1 in per-capita spending. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expec... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor...

danielweber 14y ago
46% of all bankruptcies circa 2007 were medically induced. There were obvious problems with Warren's methodology. If I live in a system with excellent government healthcare, and I end up paralyzed, my family might still go through bankruptcy because they've lost their primary income. The number is more like 1/4 than 1/2. 26% of bankruptcies have medical debts exceeding $1000. Obviously that includes someone owing $4000 to a dentist as well as someone owing $450,000 to an oncologist, so the real number is some portion of 26%.
- snowwrestler 14y ago
  The real question is what percentage of medical patients go bankrupt at all.
- jpdoctor 14y ago
  > The number is more like 1/4 than 1/2. Great. So the number of people that have been profitteered into bankruptcy is only 1/2 of what I mentioned. It doesn't change the basic fact: Profiting handsomely from the sick and dying used to be considered unethical. Now, it is "just business".
snowwrestler 14y ago
There is no other known means of solving the problem of funding long-term innovation. This was one of the major lessons of the 20th century.

danielweber 14y ago

46% of all bankruptcies circa 2007 were medically induced. There were obvious problems with Warren's methodology. If I live in a system with excellent government healthcare, and I end up paralyzed, my family might still go through bankruptcy because they've lost their primary income. The number is more like 1/4 than 1/2. 26% of bankruptcies have medical debts exceeding $1000. Obviously that includes someone owing $4000 to a dentist as well as someone owing $450,000 to an oncologist, so the real number is some portion of 26%.

snowwrestler 14y ago
The real question is what percentage of medical patients go bankrupt at all.
jpdoctor 14y ago
> The number is more like 1/4 than 1/2. Great. So the number of people that have been profitteered into bankruptcy is only 1/2 of what I mentioned. It doesn't change the basic fact: Profiting handsomely from the sick and dying used to be considered unethical. Now, it is "just business".

snowwrestler 14y ago

There is no other known means of solving the problem of funding long-term innovation. This was one of the major lessons of the 20th century.