THE ANSWER / politics / healthcare

By: Todd Wheatley
(c) IQ-2k   03-22-14

Twenty plus years of healthcare price gouging has come home to roost and the system is ripe for a fall. Just exactly when is hard to predict, but less than five years seems likely. The first thing to consider is politics. With mid-term elections fast approaching and another presidential race only two years away solutions may present themselves. Unfortunately the political system is broken. So no remedies here.

For decades the problem with the healthcare system has been cost. Insurance companies have done all they could to deflect their costs while costs to the government in the form of Medicare and Medicaid have brought the situation to a crisis. Now a whole new set of costs are upon us. Certainly out of pocket deductible costs will crush many families, but the government subsidy for insurance will hasten a spiraling debt problem.

The presidents uninformed antagonists continue to blame the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), but overlooking multiple decades of dysfunction is a big mistake. No doubt the Affordable Care Act serves as a catalyst, but the real problems are greed and lack of bargaining power. Not to mention "pay for service" and ... HIDDEN PRICES.

As an example consider the ruminating over auto repair. Far more price comparison and worry takes place for auto repair than healthcare. Many people will query several shops before spending a few hundred dollars, but in a thousand dollar healthcare expense the vast majority settles for convenience and lets the insurance company pick up the tab.

Forget ridiculously expensive cars and rising gas prices. The healthcare industry brings to light some of the moral ambiguities associated with unfettered free- market capitalism. As it stands your ailment, illness, disease, medical malady or impairment provides a revenue stream in which to MAXIMIZE PROFIT ... if not totally gouge the last dime from your wallet. In this regard Big Pharma has become legendary. Further it would not be surprising to find an industry wide bias towards treatments over cures.

------------------------
NOTE : Johnson & Johnson was recently fined (11-04-13) $2.2 billion dollar for mislabeling and marketing one of their anti-psychotic drugs ; It was among the largest fines in history.
---------------------------------

Besides health providers and drug companies the health insurance industry has taken its bite. Most notably the cancellation of policies due to "pre-existing" conditions. CEO pay totally aside.

Unfettered free market health insurers seek only the young and healthy: TAKE IN - DO NOT PAY OUT - MAXIMIZE PROFIT. Likewise free market drug companies seek to peddle their wares by whatever means (kickbacks included) and keep low cost competitors out of the market.

"Pay for service" doctors share part of the blame, but the incentives produced by the system are the main culprit. So it remains a major irony that the world's largest free market fails to create economies of scale and instead lets the healthcare system run amok.

Nevertheless blaming the PROFIT MAXIMIZING system seems out of the question so people blame President Obama's attempt at healthcare insurance reform. Even now brain dead politicians and their minions scream ... REPEAL & REPLACE. Smart people, on the other hand, understand that a replacement would supersede. Then again no one wants to be saddled with the aftermath. For most people being against something is far easier than being for something.

Unfortunately no grand ANSWER can do the job. A staged approach, on the other hand, would accomplish economies of scale. Simply let insurance companies sell policies across state lines. That way the big fish eat the little fish. Vu la, economies of scale and the power to negociate price.

Ultimately the game is MONOPOLY ... A single-payer system.

(c) 2014    DR-KNOW
IQ-2k Information Services


TOP     HOME
articles     podcasts     videos

Information eQuation (BOOK)
Information eQuation (examples)

EMAIL COMMENTS to DR-KNOW

Please support this web site: give any amount via PAYPAL ("money TRANSFER") to todd@dr-know.biz