Have you seen what hospitals charge and what insurance pays, the difference in crazy.
Oh, I agree! But there are several reasons for it:
1) To begin with, a lot of the technology involved in medical care isn't cheap. I know, as I work for a medical device company and know what's involved in the background and what the costs are.
2) Frivolous malpractice suits drive up doctor costs and hospital visit costs.
3) Uninsured/nonpaying freeloaders drive up the costs.
4) The fact that someone ELSE (be it insurance, government, employer, etc.) is paying means that there is no reason for the consumer to press for lower rates, and no reason for the provider to offer them,
If any other industry had 2 tiers of charges, the would be in jail.
Not sure how that applies to your example, but companies provide tiers of charges all the time. Compare Business Class to Coach next time you want to fly somewhere....
That is why minute clinics are thriving 65 bucks for strep/UTI then out the door.
Which proves my point. Clinics mostly charge cash, so you are in, out, bill paid, and services rendered. If it works in a clinic, it will work in a hospital.
The other issue is Drs carrying sh*% loads of student debt, they are going into speciality practices to gain higher pay to cover the debt loads. So now we have a shortage of Family Practice, General Practice and Peds docs.
And? What do you propose, forcing medical students to stay where they don't want to be? Would you be willing to have your salary artificially restricted because someone else thought you should be a janitor instead of a manager?
Businesses and states are now coming on board that something has to be done.
Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that nothing needs to be done. All I am saying is that everything being proposed these days as a "fix" is simply a repackaging of the same garbage that has caused our current problems. Doing more of the same isn't going to solve anything.
