Why can't the market deliver healthcare at a low cost?

Yes, the Screw-Everyone-Else-But-Me argument is a valid argument to make in that it is not logically false, but luckily it's not the majority opinion because what a shitty world that would lead to. Most folks would not be happy in the world of **** you dream of.

Whether or not a person needs day-to-day coverage is going to be decided on a person-by-person basis. Some folks need more health care than others. Granted, for most folks going to the doctor every time you get a sniffle is a waste of money for all involved, but there are also those that are immunocompromised that do need to see a doctor for things the rest of us might consider trivial.

Health care is something you need, especially when you have to deal with problems that may prevent you from making and sustaining a living and a life. Insurance companies and healthcare providers know this, and their prices reflect it. Just like with gasoline, the oil companies both foreign and domestic know it is crucial for everyday life. Even if you don't drive yourself, your life is affected in a multitude of ways by the cost of gasoline. That is why OPEC is able to dictate price at pretty much whatever they want it to be. Some individuals might be able to avoid the higher costs by not driving, but that's not a realistic solution for many, and doesn't negate the effect of gasoline costs on the goods and services people use. OPEC and the oil companies, because of this, know they have the world by the short and curlys. Health care works pretty much the same way, except it becomes even more preposterous because health care isn't solely a material product like gasoline is.

When you have shareholders to appease, higher profits become a necessity, and the people who need your services pay the price. Personally, I don't care if the cost of non-essential items are more expensive, because people don't need those even if they really really want them. I don't care how much the tobacco companies or the clothing companies or the soft-drink companies(just some examples picked at random) charge for their goods and whether they are priced fairly. We don't need those things in the way we need gasoline and health care, so the corporations that provide them have to be more competitive and reasonable in their pricing or people just learn to do without them, and without causing drastic consequences for their quality of life and ability to provide for themselves.

 

There is always asymmetric information with health care. The idea of price transparency is a nonsense. It is also true that the systems that avoid the price mechanism are found to be more efficient.

 

How about a plain letter
Btw i also use usps for express letters

 

In a direct primary care environment, price signals and transparency is very much so apparent.

 

How many people actually do research about the cost of a hospital? Or the cost of a lab test? Or the cost of medications?
Or whether there is a less expensive medication, or how much it would cost to have a procedure done in Thailand?

And does the medical community make it easy to get those numbers? You can complain about price transparency, but the fact is that likely less than 1% of consumers do even the most rudimentary exploration of what ever numbers are already available

 

So what prevents you from doing this?

 

Thx. Actually all is going very well. But i gotta say, i felt healthy before my problem, and likely would have self insured if i had the option since i did not anticipate a problem.... until i collapsed unconscious on the floor. I had insurance because of obamacare

 

Not with asymmetric information. It doesn't, for example, describe any quality criteria. Once you factor in adverse selection and moral hazard, price tells us little. We do know, mind you, that market forces (and the price mechianism) inflames inefficiency. That's the amusing aspect of the right wingers pretending government interventionism is the problem.

 

The USPS continues to maintain a monopoly on regular letter post. It makes sense to use USPS for letters unless you need them there overnight. Private companies aren't optimized for delivering regular mail (as they're forbidden to do so) so if you're not willing to pay for the speedy delivery it may not be economically worthwhile to use the private companies.

 

Not even the slightest clue what this means, sorry.

If you're talking about doctors and specialists, then they are not employed by govt, they are private practitioners. I have no idea why so many Americans think nationalised health means doctors suddenly become public servants, or that their fees change. So weird.

 

the American diet is raising healthcare costs, every country that adopts the American corporate diet is starting to feel the effects, even under single payer

even the Trump admin sees this

"Trump Official Says Diabetes a Preexisting Condition Not Worthy of Coverage"

https://insulinnation.com/living/tr...t-a-preexisting-condition-worthy-of-coverage/

we need to address the sugar and HFCS in almost every product we buy anymore

if we don't, healthcare costs are gonna continue to rise

Governments are starting to see this as well

"Western Australia’s government acknowledges low carbohydrate diet puts type 2 diabetes into remission"

https://regenerativetimes.com/2019/...ate-diet-puts-type-2-diabetes-into-remission/

"Sweden Becomes First Western Nation to Reject Low-fat Diet Dogma in Favor of Low-carb High-fat Nutrition"

https://healthimpactnews.com/2013/s...ogma-in-favor-of-low-carb-high-fat-nutrition/

 

Well, no it isn't. There are three types who do it .. a) vanity driven over-servicing (I must see an array of healthcare and allied healthcare alternative practioners on a regular basis because I'm special), b) lazy-parenting (give the kid a pill so I don't have to keep wiping its nose), and c) impatiant adults (give ME a pill so I don't have to heal the usual way).

 

I agree (kinda). Let them 'starve'. But that's precisely why I like a level playing field .. because it shows very clearly who needs to be exempt from any further assistance, or even pity. Also, it can never be said to be unfair or unequal.

 

the Military may change things here in the USA too...but they can only recommend, not order soldiers to eat a certain diet, so it will start with some, then if they preform better, others will follow

"Pentagon eyes controversial diet in bid to build more lethal warriors" - June 10, 2019

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jun/10/pentagon-eyes-ketogenic-diet-bid-build-more-lethal/

"Top Pentagon officials say research has shown that human bodies in ketosis — the goal of the popular and controversial ketogenic diet — can stay underwater for longer periods, making the fat- and protein-heavy eating plan a potential benefit to military divers. It is one example of a rapidly growing trend as military researchers zero in on how nutrition and certain drugs can enhance how fighting men and women perform in battle."

 

National price fixing.
Do you want to be price fixed by the Govtoo or do you just want the people who perform a service for you to be price fixed?

 

USPS here now uses temp workers, we hardly every have the same post-person - i liked the old USPS better

 

Prove it

 

If the population of the United States would adopt a ketogenic diet, that would fix the health care crisis, reduce costs of medical care and increase longevity nation wide.

 

the government can say the max price of a service covered by say medicare, but agree, they can't require a doctor to only charge x amount to a 3rd party insurer

 

agree, and even if they only adopted it once they started to get signs metabolic diseases like pre-diabetes, it would drastically reduce health care costs

 

Are physicians allowed to bill in excess of the Medicare fee schedule?

 

Yet we didnt have these problems when people paid out of pocket and carried major medical coverage. Strange

 

don't think so

I think medicare should pay 100% rather then 80% though

private insurance charges as much if not more for that 20% then a normal policy any more - should just be a co-pay of say $25 for a doctor visit and $100 for non-emergency emergency room visit

 

Look at any of those threads.

 

Private practitioners are not price fixed. They can charge whatever they want, up to the usual ceilings which apply to all service related businesses. Do you understand how nationalised healthcare works?