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Doctors should cost a lot. They undergo almost a decade of (debt-incurring) training to provide extremely valuable services, often at absurd hours. You ever hea
by pfraze 13y ago
Doctors should cost a lot. They undergo almost a decade of (debt-incurring) training to provide extremely valuable services, often at absurd hours. You ever hear of being "on-call?" Anybody that works ER shifts doesn't have a job -- they have a life in medicine. So you're going to have to work hard to convince me doctors should be paid less. We're already facing a downturn in the number of people entering the medical career (to the extent that nurses are now being trained to handle more of the job -- good in some ways, but difficult in others).
Regarding other facets of healthcare costs, some kinds of medicine and equipment are just flat-out expensive. Figuring out what costs are largesse and what costs are justified is tough, and made somewhat more difficult by distortions to the market by insurance and medicare. I'm not saying insurance or medicare are not the best solution (I don't really know) but I do know it affects the market pricing mechanisms.
Cost-controlling is a huge topic in the healthcare industry right now. Nobody disagrees that the costs are too high, but some things are worth paying for more than others. I think there are other places to look before the docs.
- ninguem2 13y agoThat's because the supply of doctors is kept artificially low and the cost of training is not borne out by society. There are other countries in the world, you know. You can just look at what they do.
- old-gregg 13y agoYour entire answer is basically what TV tells you to think of doctors after watching numerous sitcoms about them. Doctors exist in other countries, they manage to learn the same amount and some are apparently better than their US counterparts [1] Moreover, I said "heathcare providers", not "doctors". Every piece of medical equipment, from an artificial joint to a scalpel, goes through a lengthy list of middlemen each making a healthy margin. Walk into the oncology clinic (the same ones who accept donations from various "X to cure cancer!" events) and take a look at price of the hardwood they put in. That's your "cure cancer" money and it has nothing to do with "doctors should cost a lot". Healthcare lobbyists is the problem, but I'm just pointing out the easiest signs everyone can see. It's not rocket science: if you think obesity is the problem, look at the cost of giving birth. If you think insurance companies are the problem, try to get an MRI independently. If you think cost of education is the problem, look at the degree a jet-owning medical equipment salesman holds. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_ranking_of_health_systems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_ranki...
- pfraze 13y agoI assumed you meant doctors because you singled out sicular's brother (a doctor) for making healthcare expensive. You also called the overall wealth of doctors (not equipment middlemen) sickening. To your overall point, I agreed that costs are a problem and that there are some parties that extract more than they contribute ("largesse"). My point is just that we need to be very precise in evaluating which costs can be cut. Also, don't assume anything about my experience with healthcare-- because you're wrong. I'm not sure why you'd swing wild with that remark anyway.
- gruseom 13y agoDean Baker has been making an argument similar to yours for years. He usually presents it as a free trade vs. protectionism issue, which is an interesting way to think about health care costs: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/support-real-free-trade-medical-costs http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/support...