Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenophon
Needless to say, the cost-shifting results I almost cited above (would have cited if I was less lazy) tell us that the costs not covered in the controlled market get shifted to the uncontrolled part of the market, while being non-linearly inflated on the way. Various studies have suggested that most (although not all) of the "higher cost of health-care" in the US is due to this cost-shifting problem. Having Uncle Sam pay full freight would remove that part of the problem. But it would require Uncle Sam (which is to say the Congress, and so in the end the voters) to admit to the true cost of the health-care provided at taxpayer expense. And that, in turn, would affect the budget, and...
It's a mess.
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Funny, but we talked about this a lot over the weekend with my family.
One aspect that is ignored here is the the "full freight" price is also inflated. The people who are making money hand-over-fist are the insurance companies, medical supply companies and drug companies. All of those players are gaming the system to net the most profit.
Talking with my brother-in-law, who has worked in various places in the medical industry, most health providers are fine with Medicare and Medicade since they pay semi-reasonable prices and pay on time. I've seen many complaints about dealing with different insurance companies and that it seems like every company does it differently and getting their money in a timely fashion is often a complex process. Both my father and my brother-in-law think that the future of heath care coverage in this country is going to be through a single source provider, whether it is government run or not. My brother-in-law has already seen signs of it, with the local health care conglomerate near him buying out local practices and surgery centers.