Competition and capitalism are what make our health care system the envy of the world

[$tevie]

Rolando 2go wrote:
[quote=$tevie]
[quote=mick e]
You have a lot of gall in posting this topic Dennis.

The stones on this guy!

[Ca Bob]

One way to make American health care more competitive would be to remove the licensing requirements for the practice of medicine and the operation of hospitals. Then there could be a wide open, competitive system of (ill) health care. Chiropractic hospitals could advertise their lower rates, and people without money or insurance could take their chances.

On the other hand, having a system with extremely tough licensing and training requirements, and which limits the number of physicians who are allowed to practice medicine, creates automatic shortages (particularly in rural areas) and drives up prices. it's curious that the right wing mantra about the free market is so blind to this obvious fact.

I expect that those who get most of their information from right wing sources will continue to repeat the nitpicking attacks, and those who are currently on some Cobra plan or in the individual buyer market for health insurance will grab the insurance available under the new system. That of course has to be prefaced with "where it is available," but California has already published some preliminary estimates for pricing and services, and they look very good compared to the unbelievably high rates in the private sector.

One thing that has been missing from this "free market" argument is that medical care is not exactly analogous to the process of going to the market and shopping for vegetables. In the latter case, you can take it or leave it, and you can substitute one product for another. In the case of a person in acute distress, with abdominal or chest pain or a headache that won't go away, is it reasonable to shop for the least expensive emergency room? And if one did, would there be any useful information to be had?

I think not. It's about as useful as trying to shop for a different gas company to supply your home's natural gas.

[the_poochies]

Ca Bob wrote:
One way to make American health care more competitive would be to remove the licensing requirements for the practice of medicine and the operation of hospitals. Then there could be a wide open, competitive system of (ill) health care. Chiropractic hospitals could advertise their lower rates, and people without money or insurance could take their chances.

"Hi everybody!"

http://youtu.be/aqImkDgDwHU

[Mac-A-Matic]

$tevie wrote:
A friend of mine needed to have his gall bladder taken out and he asked the surgeon what it would cost and the surgeon told him. To which my friend responded that he had no insurance. So the surgeon immediately quoted a price which was literally half as much. This shows that the costs given to insurance are BS, probably with the idea that the insurance company will still overpay even after making their adjustments. It's all a huge cluster you-know-what.

That's more of an indication of the problem with medical insurance. Ask any doctor or hospital admin about it and they'll tell you that both medicare and private insurance will pay whatever the insurance thinks is appropriate. As such, much of the quoted rates are inflated to combat this - if the doctor quoted a reasonable rate, the insurance company would cut that by half (or a large percentage).

Knowing that it was coming out of your pocket, the doc was able to "slash" his prices to what is the reasonable rate - which is about what the insurance company would pay.