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Just a note: Most often, it is not the doctors' salaries or time that is the major contributor to the cost of surgery. Instead, the ridiculous fees are created
by FlyingLawnmower 12y ago
Just a note: Most often, it is not the doctors' salaries or time that is the major contributor to the cost of surgery. Instead, the ridiculous fees are created by the hospital administrators as a result of a long history of negotiations between insurance providers and hospital admins. Simple parts that cost $0.10 to manufacture will be billed at $20, rooms will be billed at $8000/night, etc.
To my knowledge, most doctors are trying to actively reduce healthcare costs on the end user. They don't see much of the profit, that just lines the coffers of the billion dollar for profit hospitals out there.
- McDiesel 12y agoIt's not their salaries? Watch them come to work, note the care they drive. Follow them home, note the house they live in. I've yet to see a dr in the US come to work in a civic, or live in a modest house...
- FireBeyond 12y agoRight, the answer is somewhere in between. When I worked on an ambulance, I'd be at the hospital several times a day - in the ER doctor lot, a sampling of the cars: - multiple Tesla S's - 3 Porsche Cayenne - 2 Audi S5s - several Escalades Whilst there are two sides to the story, let's not pretend that doctors live hopeless lives, saddled with a lifetime of crippling student loan debt, barely able to keep their heads above water to selflessly help people. There is a medical group in Kansas/Indiana, I think, that was trialling the novel idea of "fixed price surgery"... looking at right on $100K for cardiac bypass. Me? To look at my explanation of benefits, the billing for my kidney stone last year peaked at over $60K.
- Domenic_S 12y agoDid you see the age of those same doctors? Virtually guaranteed none of them were < 40. A fair calculation of salary is some evaluation of (years of training required * intrinsic skill required * benefit to society). If you accept that, then doctors are surely near the top.
- Domenic_S 12y ago[accidental double-post]
- HaloZero 12y agoThe salaries are high but the fact that a surgery costs $34,000, most of it doesn't go to the Doctor. I'm sure they get a lot, but the hospital needs its cut, the insurance need it's cut, etc.
- seanflyon 12y agoI mostly agree, but Doctors get paid a lot too. We let the American Medical Association artificially limit the number of doctors in order to keep their salaries up (which has the side effect of over-working the doctors). The costs you mentioned are the primary ones, but doctors salaries are a major contributor as well.
- nradov 12y agoThe number of physicians is primarily limited by the number of available residency slots, over which the AMA has little control.
- danielweber 12y agoThere are a lot of reasons American health care costs more. Most people want to blame it on just one group or reason (which not coincidentally matches their political priors). The answer tends to be "a little bit of everything." And it's really hard to cram down the costs on someone who is already making a certain amount of money.