What Is The Best Way To Lower Medical Care Costs In America - We Are Being Raped.

June 27, 2017

If you listen to the discussions about ObamaCare Repeal and Replace, you notice that the COST OF MEDICAL CARE in America is never addressed. It's not that medical care HAS to cost insane amounts of money. America's system is all out of whack!

For example:

An MRI in the USA Averages $1,100. In Australia, it's only $215! Australia is a "modern" country... so why the huge variance?

The medication AVASTIN kills several types of Cancer. In the USA, a month's supply is $3,900. In the United Kingdom, it's $470.

Hip Replacement - $30,000 in the USA. $16,000 in the United Kingdom.

Source: www.investopedia.com...


Sure, you can nibble around the edges by talking about Health Insurance-related mandates, allocations of taxpayers money, and enticing young people into the pool, like Congress is doing. But fiddling with those items do not address the ROOT CAUSES of insanely high medical costs here in America.

Once we figure out WHY the costs are so high, Congress can begin addressing each item..one by one.

Or, are we as consumers OK with the high costs, so long as Congress redistributes enough of our tax dollars to keep premiums low, health insurance companies happy, and Medicaid for the poor adequately funded ? Those are the issues causing so much anguish for Congress this Summer.

But eventually, medical inflation, combined with insurance company fees, will cause even health insurance at our jobs to become extinct, as companies stop buying coverage for their employees. That will force Americans to DEMAND that medical care prices be significantly reduced.

I suppose the crudest, but most direct way to get America's medical care cost down to global averages, is for the U.S. government to take control, and set price ceilings on every test, procedure, operation and medication that is more than ____% above the average cost, among developed nations. Would that work???

-CareWeMust

a reply to: carewemust

Out law health insurance-and build funeral homes.

I honestly haven't a clue on how to wrestle the health care (money) out of the hospitals-insurance-and pharma hands.

I think it would take death by a 1000 papercuts. Meaning outlaw lobbying-and advertising drugs on TV then cost averaging drugs. One cost structure for all patients, no cash discount, no over billing.

But the reason it is so expensive is because it cost so much. The medical industry charges the US too much.

a reply to: carewemust

Nationalization is the only way. If any first world nation made healthcare a commodity to be capitalized on, their costs would be just as bad as ours.

What's the common denominator in nations who don't get screwed by pharmaceutical companies and insurance? They killed the insurance idea and own their healthcare!

Don't get sick

Don't pay $27.00 for an ibuprofen pill

Don't get sick

The insurance comps are to blame for everything

They collect and profit every day

What do half the people do in hospitals everyday anyway?

It's called greed and overpaid management. It's US business today and it won't be addressed because too many like it this way.

a reply to: carewemust

Regulate big pharma and big food producers.

Bayer buying Monsanto is God awful.

Regulations on lobbyists and campaign contributions.

Luxury taxes on junk food, and instead of subsidizing corn, do it for crop diversity.

This will take decades, but I believe it's the only answer.

Americans have worse health than other developed nations. We need creative solutions to change this, or health care will stay the same price will we argue whether government or insurance is the way to go.

Either way we pay, unfortunately partisanship distracts that truth.

Unfortunately, the best way means a few people have to die.

A hundred years ago, we just barely got our current Fiat currency.
In just ten decades, it has created the biggest den of vipers and thieves this planet has ever seen.

Insurance is a scam. They exist by betting that they can earn money by collecting monthly fees that are so much more than the cost of health Care that over the course of a year, they can earn a profit.
The problem with this model shows up when more than a couple percent of patients have insurance.
Then, it's more profitable for the doctors to charge more, betting that they only get insured customers, who can now afford higher costs since insurance covers most of it- but that coverage is still, on average, less than it costs to have... So now the doctors make more, and the insurance makes more, and the average person pays more for the same.


Then one day you wake up and 80% of the people have this insurance scam because it makes their health Care costs more monthly and the average person can't budget more than a pay check out.
Sounds like a good time to implement mandatory health Care, right? Most people are too stupid to manage money, and too poor to budget, so on top of their car payment and rent, who minds a monthly health Care bill?

Only the bill doesn't pay for health Care. It covers the overhead of insurance, and what's left over after instance pays their share for the average working person is three times what the cost of the health Care was to begin with.


You want to lower the cost of health Care, start by educating people on how badly they are screwed by insurance.
Then, ban insurance.

Any doctor only in it for the money will quit- which is for the best, since they are the ones buying stock in big pharma then pushing their crap.
Costs will self regulate, and become affordable as a mechanic.

This is, actually, utterly simple. Mandate enforcement of the antitrust laws, and start putting folks within the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC) in jail for violating the Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts.

Imagine, if you will, going to a new car dealer... let's say Chrysler... to buy a car. You decide you want something that gets decent gas mileage... and that is in the lower price range.

You sit down to fill out the paperwork for a loan... and the dealership wants you to sign all the papers... but when you ask "but what is the price of the car... and how much am I financing?" The dealer looks at you like you are an idiot and says:

"We haven't decided what we are charging you for the car. When we do, we'll enter that number onto the contract, and submit it for financing... and we'll send you a copy so you can then find out how much you owe."

How does that sound? Is that how you want to buy your next car?

That is EXACTLY what we are putting up with in "Health Care" and it has been illegal since shortly after the mid 1800's.

But... BECAUSE we have Democrats and Republicans in DC that get a sh** ton of money from the MIC, they have given it a pass, despite the fact that it is COMPLETELY AGAINST THE LAW.

No. You WON'T hear any of the mainstream politicians of either party address this... because the moneyed interests will go out of their way to destroy them and have them voted out of office if they did.

PRICE DISCOVERY and creating free market competition in ALL aspects of medicine. Savvy business folks who know how to run businesses will IMMEDIATELY compete, create MASSIVE downward pressure on pricing, and they will make a sh** ton of money themselves in the process.

Oh... and one more thing... it will "fast-crash" the economy big time. As long as we bite the bullet and don't try to "fix" it, things will bounce back in 18 to 24 months and the economy will roar back to life like we haven't seen it for a generaton or more.

a reply to: carewemust

This is the elephant in the room. No one seems to want to address it. Kudos for attempting. Hope it opens eyes.

Step One should be to throw these people out of DC
www.opensecrets.org...

Top Lobbying Industries

Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $3,146,090,212
Insurance $2,190,651,832
Electric Utilities $2,013,127,133
Electronics Mfg & Equip $1,823,347,451
Business Associations $1,811,811,643
Oil & Gas $1,715,405,541
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing $1,416,425,661
Education $1,399,862,870
Hospitals/Nursing Homes $1,310,021,801
Telecom Services $1,271,840,866
Securities & Investment $1,264,774,284
Civil Servants/Public Officials $1,216,181,432
Real Estate $1,215,135,758
Health Professionals $1,189,983,794
Air Transport $1,125,384,003
Misc Issues $929,225,311
Automotive $891,793,138
Defense Aerospace $887,354,553
Health Services/HMOs $863,410,051

The only way is to force a single price for a product or service world wide and scrap the insurance companies altogether. A friend of mine had insurance from work and his wife had insurance from her job. Instead of it costing him less, it actually ended up costing more because both insurance companies tried to force the other to pay a bigger part of the bill which they both increased to cover their part of the bill. He went back and asked about he same procedure and said he had no insurance. It was the cheapest option. They refused to let him pay cash because he had insurance which they said they would bill regardless of whether he paid cash or not. He ended up paying cash only and saved a good bit of money but not without weeks of frustration and arguments with an endless string of red tape.

Insurance companies really are the problem. I needed a ct scan recently. My doctor knew I needed a ct. The people in x-ray knew I needed a ct. Everyone knew I needed a ct. But the insurance company insisted I get a panel of x-rays first. I paid my portion, and the insurance company paid the rest. I had to wait a couple of days before the doc told the insurance company that the x-rays were inconclusive and I needed a ct. Only then did the insurance company approve the ct. Wasted time and money on x-rays that accomplished nothing was mandatory according to the insurance company. Scrap the whole lot of them.

a reply to: Abysha

We have nationalized education for K-12 and look at the results, so I don't think that's the answer. And it's not cheaper than private in many places either. You can get your kid a better education privately than what the state spends on your kid at the local education mills.

My answer? Go back to a fee for service model without an insurance and government middleman getting between you and the provider.

a reply to: ketsuko

Are you saying that if we paid less in taxes (public school) and were allowed to allocate our earned income towards services we desire for our own reasons that we would be better off in quality?

Preposterous! What heathen values do you hold!?

a reply to: jacobe001

I've said it here before, all lobbying should be public record so we can know about these deals being made. Any that isn't is a serious crime with mandatory penalty, maybe loss of office.

The whole system is now foobar.

a reply to: ketsuko

A total mess; healthcare insurance and money
Greed and profits for shareholders

What do you call the student who "Finishes" last in Med School?

a reply to: carewemust

Great subject! We just have to follow the money by breaking down all costs.

Take that MRI cost delta and follow who gets paid in each country. Then ask if each itemized cost makes sense for what is offered. Do this for every medical procedure and patterns will emerge which show who is taking too much.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

It's sad when your care is based on what the insurance company thinks. I thought we had doctors for determining treatment, based on their training and experience.

a reply to: bluesjr

👏

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Bravo 👏

a reply to: Abysha

Abysha... actually... that's not correct. The common denominator of country's with National Healthcare is price discovery.

WITHOUT dealing with medical monopolies... all single payer does is make corporations wealthy off of taxpayer money. The nation still goes bankrupt in 3 to 5 years, crushed underneath the costs of medicine.

Insurance shenanigans is a symptom of monopoly medicine. Unless there is competition in pricing for medical care... all you are doing is moving the grotesque costs from the right pocket to the left pocket.

Dealing with the racketeering and price fixing, however, will IMMEDIATELY lower the cost of medicine across the board by 70 to 80%. THEN we might even be able to have single payer.

The ONLY reason the countries with national health insurance haven't bankrupted themselves is because they have PRICE DISCOVERY.

Please folks... whether you believe in "free markets" or "national healthcare", understand this, and spread the word.

If any of us ran a retail business that refused to tell people IN ADVANCE... what our "product" was going to cost the consumer... we would be shut down and prosecuted for racketeering... and we'd STILL be in prison!

It's TIME to enforce EXISTING monopoly laws... other wise... the Democrats or Republicans "health care fix" is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.