The Hospital Pricing System- It's About Profit, Not Saving People

To add to this my employee recently had a small chemical burn on his arm (we still have no idea where it came from), and I told him to go to the ER. At the time we didn't know what it was on his arm, and we were afraid it might be a spider bite.

Anyhow, a trip to the ER and some generic ointment cost me over $200.00. No shots or other medicine were given.

Complete BS if you ask me.

reply to post by TheEthicalSkeptic


I also call it capitalism gone corrupted, you are right that is the way things are this days in the land of the "opportunity".

And believe or not corporations are protected by law.

There's price fixing involved alright.
I can't remember where I saw this second link I have here, but everyone should read it and realize we as citizens will likely not see price reform in our favor.

When I read this article earlier this year, I was sickened to think so few people determine what we pay for medical procedures.
And why it's harder and harder to find a good GP....or a good DO, even they have succumbed to the lure of specialization.

“What started as an advisory group has taken on a life of its own,” said Tom Scully, who was Medicare chief during the George W. Bush administration and is now a partner in a private equity firm that invests in health care. “The idea that $100 billion in federal spending is based on fixed prices that go through an industry trade association in a process that is not open to the public is pretty wild.”

articles.washingtonpost.com...

Everyone here should read this article. It's an insight into why things cost what they do.

On the last week of April earlier this year, a small committee of doctors met quietly in a midsized ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago. There was an anesthesiologist, an ophthalmologist, a radiologist, and so on—thirty-one in all, each representing their own medical specialty society, each a heavy hitter in his or her own field.

The meeting was convened, as always, by the American Medical Association. Since 1992, the AMA has summoned this same committee three times a year. It’s called the Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (or RUC, pronounced “ruck”), and it’s probably one of the most powerful committees in America that you’ve never heard of.

washingtonmonthly.com...

reply to post by xuenchen

Do you think *socialism* will ever make it out of the philosophy/classroom stage ?

Already has.

Social Security
Medicare
Amtrak
Fire Departments
Police Departments
etc.

These things work very well as socialistic programs and not as for profit agencies. The healthcare system is in desperate need of moving away from the for-profit model that it is currently operating in.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


unbelievable.......somehow, it's even worse than I thought.

Thank god we have universal healthcare here. A lot of people complain about it though, especially Americans and I don't understand why. Yes the waits times can be stupidly long at times but it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to visit a doctor. Maybe America should stop spending so much on military and move that budget to health care.

-BmwSauber

reply to post by AlienScience


Fire/Police are local.....please stop calling them socialism.

first /. they will poison the air water, food for our money and when we get sick will continue to milk the unnecessary procedures, surgical operations, poison drugs than the disease worse the more expensive the marauders from allopathic medicine will kill us. 80% would live longer , in time of peace is a killer # 1 medicine, not the disease . they continue also during the war in 1941-1945 2000000 soviet goyims rescued their /. tribesman lethal and disabled solely by doctors

reply to post by EllaMarina


Exactly - - the government has pretty much given and protected monopolistic practices in the medical industry. But those same practices are illegal in any other industry. This is the main reason prices in healthcare continue to go up. And of course, that is not addressed b/c as we all know the medical industry is such big "supporters" of congressmen on both sides of the aisle. They wouldn't dare do anything to put an end to that.

I hear ya!

I think it's ridiculous what the medical industry charges.

You pretty much have to be rich to even survive if you have a serious illness.

I remember going to the walk in last year when I had medicaid, I now have regular insurance via Aetna, well I had a UTI from my pregnancy. You can buy a $10 test in the store yet you can't treat it cause you need antibiotics. I didn't pay anything but i saw what they charged Medicaid and it was $189!!! I couldn't believe they charged that much to pee in a damn cup and do a test I can do for $10!! It's ridiculous.

I remember last year after my accident being given what amounts to extra strength tylenol in the hospital and you know what they charged me?!!? Over $100 friggin bucks and a prescription doesn't even cost that much.

This country is screwed up and backwards. It's all about profit, nobody really cares about your health. ALl they care about is how much money they will make off of you.

reply to post by solongandgoodnight

This happens every time there is some form of subsidy which disconnects the consumer of a product or service from the actual cost of that product or service. In this case, it is health insurance in combination with government subsidies (and regulations) which have been going on for decades.

If the cost is apparent and many competitors vie for the customers, the free market will reward the most optimal solution. This is not a magical fix-all. It does not mean that all markets are automatically well balanced, especially with regard to complex health care as the product and service are not readily returnable/refundable.

That said, for this particular example, blood tests should be an easy thing to do well and there would be specialists who do it best in a free market.

This is a very good example of a problem that cannot be solved by a plan and would benefit in ways that we can't anticipate by allowing the chips to fall where they may in many different ways across many different groups.

SammyB0476
reply to post by AlienScience

 

Fire/Police are local.....please stop calling them socialism.

Not sure I follow? Local and state governments can conduct business in a socialist manner?

I don't think Canada, the UK, France or other countries that have universal care allow the corporations and drug companies to charge that much in their respective countries.

This another reason it costs so dang much in America. Americans basically subsidize the heath care cost of the industrial westernized world.

You better believe that the hospitals in France would NEVER accept paying $10 for an aspirin from a company like Roche Pharmaceuticals...

The US has a "FOR PROFIT" healthcare system.

Why in the world do you think there's such a push (pink) for cancer awareness? The more people that get checked out - the more cases they can diagnose early enough. The longer they're in the "system" (cancer industry), the more the industry stands to make.

Prices, according to capitalism, should go up at least 1000 percent as of October 1st.

In fact, it is the law prices must rise. Why?

When you mandate something, you the item mandated is no longer subject to market forces. If I made widget X and got my local mayor to mandate every person in the city to have one the the very first thing I'd do RAISE PRICES!!!!!!! Even if I was a saint, the very first thing I'd do is raise prices. Even if I was a greedy corporation who needed to keep up shareholder value, I'd raise prices.

Now, the insurance companies get the same thing here. One, they know the medical establishment just ran a wholesale price raise. They also know they are mandated, but........... though they are mandated they are not mandated to spend the money they take in. So, they get a major bonus, they get the mandate price hike and yet do not have to produce a product. Win/win

And you get free healthcare.

SammyB0476
reply to post by AlienScience

 

Fire/Police are local.....please stop calling them socialism.

Them being local doesn't mean they aren't socialistic.

Socialism doesn't have to be on the national level.

reply to post by AlienScience
you not know nothing about free socialism medicine not have a purpose to kill us or to sawing alive on organs including childrens , or to feed the entire en.m.wikipedia.org... pharmacology