How Federal Government intervention in the marketplace has distorted health care costs

Extract:

The National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) are the official estimates of total health care spending in the United States. Dating back to 1960, the NHEA measures annual U.S. expenditures for health care goods and services, public health activities, government administration, the net cost of health insurance, and investment related to health care. The data are presented by type of service, sources of funding, and type of sponsor.

U.S. health care spending grew 5.8 percent in 2015, reaching $3.2 trillion or $9,990 per person. As a share of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 17.8 percent.

This report looks at US spending for health care pre and post Medicare. It tracks the cost growth driven by increased access and services funded by the FedGov.
It is a bit of a slog to work through, but I believe it worth the time to read to fully understand the impact Federal funding has had of the cost (and availability) of healthcare.
The website links to the report pieces parts. The second link is a pdf of the full report.

website
Historical - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Full paper with charts etc
https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statis...thExpendData/Downloads/HistoricalNHEPaper.pdf

 

Dang, 10k a year? Didn't realize this country was so sickly...or does that include illicit drugs?

Oh wait..that's ACA averaged across the population, right? Not counting actual health care costs.

 

I am downloading the pdf and will read later as too damn tired to go through it now, just split about 2 cords of wood and thinking I know now why people purchase those powered splitters. I am expect to see that costs have been driven up by medical insurance companies or do they cover the insurance companies?

 

That pdf is packed full of information. Quite overwhelming. I thought this was an interesting fact-

Which is very true, economy goes down and people can't afford the co-pays.

 

The government needs to get their greedy little mitts out of private business, be it medical, agricultural, or manufacturing. Through the govts mishandling, prices are up, quality and production are down, and the backbone of America's economy is on shaky ground.

The insurance industry is nothing but a farce, taking in huge sums of private money, betting it on stocks and securities that are anything but secure, and producing nothing of value in return. And medical insurance is even worse...drawing resources from people that could otherwise be use to actually pay for services.

 

Now you know why the PTB fight medical saving accounts. Even those are too much Govt BS.

This all really leads back to the market distortions caused by WWII. The FedGov froze wages, so employers had to offer something else to attract workers. That turned out to be Company-paid medical.

Kaiser Shipyards is long gone. (Kaiser Shipyards - Wikipedia)
The health insurance arm is still here... (About « A History of Total Health | Kaiser Permanente History Blog)

 

I have a theory concerning the relationship between medical providers and medical insurance companies. A friend had a situation which leads me to believe this but I don't have any facts to prove it but to cut to the chase... I think the fee for a service is higher if insurance is paying as oppose to a private individual. I do not think this is the case every time but... Anyway, the whole system with medical care and medical insurance is like a self-licking ice cream cone in this country. The medical providers can charge what they want as they know they will get paid by the insurance companies. And, the insurance companies simply raises its cost to the consumers; both are happy campers and make more money. The lobbies for both are extremely powerful so I do not see any real change in the near future. Personally, I believe we need to get the insurance companies out of the equation, that's one of the many steps that need to be taken.

 

Most larger facilities will offer a deep discount if payment is made in cash on service acceptance. A local hospital here offers 50% cut right off the top if you make a partial payment up front and if paid in full, will knock off up to anther 25 to 30%.

(Note - always ask for the 'discount' offered to their carriers)

Most medical providers can wait up to TWO years before payment from an insurance company. Carry that much debt and you are going to need some vig to cover the carry.

Also
Thanks to the FedGov (EMTALA) forcing facilities to provide care, no matter if the person can (or will) pay, costs rise for everyone.
More than a few hospitals in CA have closed their ERs or closed altogether - facing bankruptcy from this is law is a fact..
Now matter how you cut it, forcing a organization to provide something for 'free' costs everybody - and this case, the cost of medical care for those that can pay.

<s>Of course, local and National POLs playing Santa Claus could care less, they rarely look much past the next election.</s>