The “healthcare” system isn’t broken, it works perfectly.
You’re just mistaken about what its purpose is.It’s one of the most beautiful examples of capitalism working as intended: When you’re hurting or dying, your demand for healthcare is unlimited, and you’re in no position to compare prices or services, so cost is determined by the maximum amount that can be squeezed out of you during your remaining lifetime.
To spell out the point here - healthcare isn’t the point of the healthcare industry under capitalism - profit is. Any healthcare delivered is going to be the bare minimum required to separate you from your money.
I’ve worked in hospital systems since I graduated from college. There has been one meeting (out of all the meetings!) that I have absolutely never forgotten due to something that was brought up.
They thought it was super cool to talk about how much cash our new surgical center was bringing in. I know it was small in the scheme of things, but in my head a hospital should be super happy when they don’t have to perform surgery on a person. They shouldn’t be happy to perform surgery so that they can make money.
When you have an actual functioning competitive market the money you bring in correlates with the value of the service you provide, so it makes perfect sense to be happy about the money the new surgical center is bringing in. That means it’s useful.
The problem is that the health care market is regulated and subsidized in so many ways, many of them conflicting with each other, that competition is very limited and price discovery is reduced to “whatever the patient (and their insurance) can afford to pay” since they can’t go anywhere else. Fix that and there won’t be any reason for hospital owners or employees to feel guilty about making money.
Profit based healthcare is immoral.
Nonsense. Greed Is Good.
Capitalists are constantly telling me that if the Mayo Clinic wasn’t charging $5000 for saline drips, the service simply wouldn’t exist and he’d have died. This is what happens all the time in Communist Countries.
Besides, $5000 is a small price to pay for your life. If anything, he should have been charged extra. The hospital could have extorted him for five figures, easily, if they’d just twisted the screws a little tighter.
Dude went the the mofo Mayo Clinic for dehydration. Gets a $5000 bill.
Surprised Pikachu face.
Well, everyone knows you’re not supposed to go to the Mayo Clinic for dehydration. That’s just common sense.
Of course a saline drip is going to cost you $5k at the Mayo Clinic. DUH!
He should have gone to the other clinic that doesn’t charge as much. And the name of that clinic is…
Mexico
Not sure what the sarcasm is about, but the Mayo Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world. It’s not unreasonable for them to charge higher than average.
I’m not saying that makes the $5k bill reasonable, just giving more context to the comment you replied to.
the Mayo Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world
You don’t need a heart surgeon to provide a saline drip.
You’re right, a RN would probably be qualified. But what’s your point? Their nurses are also paid more than average, not just the heart surgeons. If you need basic care go to a basic clinic.
(Not defending the $5k bill)
(Not defending the $5k bill)
Then what are you defending? An IV takes a few minutes to insert. If the RN is earning $200/hr and the bag costs 10x the going rate of around $11, you’re still talking about a 16x markup.
I’m defending the idea that one of the best hospitals in the world would charge more than an ordinary clinic. All healthcare in this country is overpriced, but I don’t see anything wrong with incentivising people to offer better services. The best doctors and nurses should get paid the most.
I’m defending the idea that one of the best hospitals in the world would charge more than an ordinary clinic.
Would affordability not be factored into a hospital’s quality? If a hospital puts even the most routine care at an inaccessible price point, I would consider that a black mark on their ability to deliver service.
I don’t see anything wrong with incentivising people to offer better services.
Again, I don’t see any relationship between the price-tag of a saline drip and the quality of service. Not when the price is that astronomical.
If you put in an order for a hamburger, the meal shows up, and then waiter hands you a check for $500, the advertised assertion that this is “The Best Burger!” does not transform a quarter pound of grilled ground beef into its weight in gold.
The best doctors and nurses should get paid the most.
There is no reason to believe a saline drip at Mayo Clinic is going to be meaningfully different from any bog standard city hospital.
All the price tag accomplishes is to screen people in need of care from the facility based on their income.
Do you have a choice of which hospital you go to when put into an ambulance?
(Never ridden in one, when I needed one I drove my self out of fear of the bill).
Generally speaking, the ambulance should take you to the nearest available ER. Some shady services may divert riders to affiliated hospitals.
I’ve heard more than a few instances of ambulances being redirected from hospitals entirely based on the prospective ability of the rider to pay.
So you’ve got even less control than you’d initially suspect.
