The national healthcare connundrum Xplained

I worked contracting for the DoD and other government agencies and our medical insurance was gold plated, the best, and one could say it was because I had a specific skill set; however, those costs for good medical insurance were directly passed on and it does not matter if you are working for IBM, the US Government, Pacific Railroad or McDonalds, the cost of good medical insurance is passed on directly to the consumer/customer or in the government's case, the taxpayer. But, that is not the true problem...

Boiled down, the true and underlying problem is the cost of Medical Care and that remains if you are an expert brain surgeon with a gold plated policy or a ditch digger with a crap policy. Yes, Economy of Scale will effect the individual's cost and if that was the solution then it seems to be a simple matter of getting the entire nation to sign up to one policy but it is not the real problem.

Better defined, why does it cost so much in the USA? Why are the costs so radically different even for common/general medications or services? And, when I say 'radically' I mean a HUGE difference, 5X, 10X, etc... I personally saw the same medication that cost $1500 here cost $260 in Canada, that's almost 6X more! I swear, that is the truth.

My wife is purchasing some simple generic antibiotics for me (preps) while she is seeing her mother in Central Asia. I want to compare the difference in cost between here and there.

Many say the USA pays for the rest of the world's medical costs and that is how big Pharma recoups its losses elsewhere in the world but that doesn't explain the other 2/3 portion of the pie, the Health Insurance Industry and the HealthCare Industry and why those costs are so huge compare to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, there actually might be something to this statement since I have yet heard an explanation that truly explains it better and if that is the case it should stop - but it won't - never. They money is simply too good and they, with the help of the politicians they empower, will milk this cow until it is dry.

Sadly, I truly do not see a solution to this problem, not given the political climate and the amount of money being milked. It simply will not change. Sooner or later a whacko politician like Bernie Sanders will force the issue and he will be elected because of it but whether he truly will be allowed to change it - well - I think that is doubtful.

 

Well, I believe that it could be argued that 50% of present level of government employment is essential for maintaining a neutral judicial system for all, a neutral national defense for all and for overseeing the safety, health and well being for all. With that being said, the other half needs to go find work in the tax revenue generating, free enterprise sector of the economy and ultimately I believe they would be happier and better off if only for the reason that they would enjoy a sense of self respect that they are contributing instead of being entitled, government mule riding suckles. The age old problem is though, which monkeys will make the leap and which monkeys will stay behind.

 

Well thought out and well written, thank you.
Is the solution simple? Let's see.
We know that the domestic purchasing power of the US Federal reserve note has shrunken drastically in the past fifty years, so naturally, it takes significantly more dollar bills to purchase goods and services like healthcare, housing, *energy, *food etc. than it did fifty years ago.
We also know that living wage, skilled and semi skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector, which numbered about one in four fifty years ago, have plummeted to less than one in ten presently. The major replacement for millions of good jobs lost has been government employment which generally compensates above what the free market would naturally dictate and what society can afford. Also, poverty wage, "would you like fries with that", type jobs have become a major source of employement in present day USA. Neither replacement bodes well for contributing much to the tax base with the government employment sector wholly detracting from it.
So what else do we know?
The deflation of the domestic purchasing power of the dollar bill has outpaced the inflation of paychecks for the lower and middle-middle class, non government employed, tax paying USAmerican majority.
Comparatively less tax revenue coming into government's coiffures combined with decreasing purchasing power of the dollar due to: Overprinting and over distribution of the dollar, Backing the dollar with debt instead of gold and other intrinsic value, Exporting tax revenue generating-living wage jobs for millions of USAmericans and Excessive government cost and size, has relegated the availability of an overall excellent medical system primarily to the, "free", healthcare entitled government employed sector and others fortunate enough to either make/have enough money to afford healthcare or have significant healthcare subsidy courtesy of their employers. In any and all cases, ultimately the cost of healthcare gets passed along to everyone else in the form of higher taxation and higher costs for free market goods and services.
So whats the simple solution? Caution, the monkeys who already have healthcare aren't going to like the answer, they are going to mob up and swing from the branches and shriek in terror and wail and strike out and throw feces and to be honest the monkey writing this doesn't like the answer much either. Okay, the ONLY answer to creating basic, affordable, medical availability fairness for all has already passed in the form of an "act". Yes Gloria, everyone must participate in the "act", for it to work and be a minimal taxation burden to all. Don't like it? I don't blame you. Please share a better plan but remember, swinging from the branches like a collective of greedy, entitled, terrified, feeble minded, "I got mine", feces hurling monkeys is so far the only alternative to the "act" that I've seen anyone come up with and that dog don't hunt.
Note: *Aunty SAMantha doesn't include the inflating costs of energy and food in her inflationary figures, it looks better.

 

Is the solution to the healthcare conundrum simple? Let's see.
We know that the domestic purchasing power of the US Federal reserve note has shrunken drastically in the past fifty years, so naturally, it takes significantly more dollar bills to purchase goods and services like healthcare, housing, *energy, *food etc. than it did fifty years ago.
We also know that living wage skilled and semi skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector, which numbered about one in four, fifty years ago, have plummeted to less than one in ten presently. A major replacement for millions of good jobs lost has been via government employment which generally compensates above what the free market would naturally dictate and what society can afford along with "would you like fries with that", type employment! Neither replacement bodes well for contributing much to the tax base and government employment wholly detracts from it.
So what else do we know?
The deflation of the domestic purchasing power of the dollar bill has outpaced the inflation of paychecks for the lower and middle-middle class, non government employed, tax paying USAmerican majority.
Comparatively less tax revenue coming into government's coiffures combined with decreasing purchasing power of the dollar due to: Overprinting and over distribution of the dollar, Backing the dollar with debt instead of gold and other intrinsic value, Exporting tax revenue generating-living wage jobs for millions of USAmericans and Excessive government cost and size, has relegated availability of an overall excellent medical system primarily to the, "free", healthcare entitled government employed sector and others fortunate enough to either make/have enough money to afford healthcare or have significant healthcare subsidy courtesy of their employers. In any and all cases, ultimately the cost of healthcare gets passed along to everyone else in the form of higher taxation and higher costs for free market goods and services.
So what's the simple solution? Caution, the monkeys who already have healthcare aren't going to like the answer, they are going to mob up and swing from the branches and shriek in terror and wail and strike out and throw feces and to be honest the monkey writing this doesn't like the answer much either. Okay, the ONLY answer to creating basic, affordable, medical availability fairness for all has already passed in the form of an, "act". Yes Gloria, everyone must participate in the, "act", for it to work and be a minimal tax burden to all. Don't like it? I don't blame you. Please share a better plan but remember, swinging from the branches like a collective of greedy, entitled, terrified, feeble minded, "I got mine", feces hurling monkeys is so far the only alternative to the, "act", that I've seen anyone come up with and that dog don't hunt.
Note: Aunty SAMantha doesn't include the inflating costs of energy and food in her inflationary figures, it looks better.

 

Unfortunately, I am forced to agree with you - and - I truly mean 'unfortunately'. HealthCare is that special item in our lives that is so extremely difficult to live without and to do so can be ruinous - not only to you but following generations.

And, I wish there was some other way without having to get the government involved but there is nothing that will work or truly have an effect, certainly nothing that the providers, insurance and pharma couldn't/wouldn't be able to get around.

But, who are we kidding, nothing will happen. Billions are flowing and billions can be spent to keep the exact environment. the same propaganda, the same costs,...nothing will change.

BTW My wife, who is visiting mother in Central Asia, just purchased an antibiotic, 100 tablets (500 mg), of Amoxicillin (manufactured in Germany), to bring back for me, total cost was $10, actually a bit less, closer to $9... I wonder what 100 tablets would cost here?

 

Amoxicillin should be really inexpensive in the USA right? It's been around for quite awhile and is commonly prescribed. I have no idea what it costs in the USA.
The entitled government employed and retired, (early or otherwise), and the politicians who decide the fate of healthcare for the masses, receive, "free", or at the very least, heavily, taxation and debt subsidized healthcare, which drives costs up for everyone. To take healthcare away from the entitled would send them into a tyraid, much like taking the silver spoon away from a baby. In the US of A, affordable healthcare will continue to fall out of the reach of the common core made clueless working proletariat, untill either new life is breathed into the Affordable Healthcare Act, or the shrunken US dollar becomes domestically strong enough to make America great again for everyone and not just the entitled government suckles and rich gits.

 

.The entitled government employed and retired, (early or otherwise), and the politicians who decide the fate of healthcare for the masses, receive, "free", or at the very least, heavily, taxation and debt subsidized healthcare, which drives costs up for everyone. To take healthcare away from the entitled would send them into a tyraid, much like taking the silver spoon away from a baby. In the US of A, affordable healthcare will continue to fall out of the reach of the common core made clueless working proletariat, untill either new life is breathed into the Affordable Healthcare Act, or the shrunken US dollar becomes domestically strong enough to make America great again for everyone and not just the entitled government suckles and rich gits.

 

You sound like a socialist. Healthcare is not a right guaranteed by the constitution.

 

~ I certainly didn't like the idea of the government stepping in to do the job of the heavily regulated free market by temporarily offering the purchasing of affordable healthcare to a wider income level of working USAmericans.
~ I am entitled to absolutely nothing, (no one is entitled to anything but that's not what the socialist government mule riders believe), and as an able bodied and minded working person, I would be ashamed of myself to be so socialistically arrogant and programmed as to demand that others be forced to fund my healthcare even if that was, "the deal".
~ As the past fifty years of Communistic, (Socialists prefer to use the word Socialist over Communist, it sounds so much nicer), Democrat Socialist government lying, warring, taxing, excessive growth and omnipotence, (as facilitated by the grass roots voter programming of USA's future voters via a Democrat Socialist staffed and operated, "public", education monopoly and their collective bargaining acts), finally begins to unravel before our very eyes, hopefully the public education monopoly will be broken up, parents will return to parenting and healthcare markets will be allowed to compete in all states at all levels for all people, instead of the current state of stifling regulation.
~ Have a thoughtful day.

"We gain respect of "self " by pulling our own weight, not forcing others to drop and give us 50 for our 20"​

 

I agree that healthcare should be able to be purchased across state lines. More competition will help drive down costs. Tort reform would also help. Hospitals and doctors get sued at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately people sometimes get sick or injured and they die. Grieving family members are preyed upon by ambulance chases to get them to sue every over great aunt milly’s death. Now the fact that great aunt milly was 95 years old and died of heart failure is lost in the noise. The fact the the hospital didn’t order all these expensive tests and treatment becomes what is focused on. So, hospitals order unneeded tests and treatments as a CYA thing.

 

while I hear what you are saying... medical "misadventure" takes more lives then firearms...

someone within the medical community screws up and someones dies...

if they're not held accountable... would such things get worse???

the real problem is... how to tell the difference... between a medical "error"...

and a situation where nothing could have been done for the patient...

 

10-25 usd...depending on where you get it.

 

I was going to call Walmart Pharmacy to confirm your pricing, it's the cheapest around here, but then thought, "Why bother..." nothing is going to change. We're beating a dead horse here. It doesn't matter if it costs 20X more or 20X less because nothing will change...never. There is simply too much money involved for it to change. So, we can bitch and moan all we want, make logical suggestions and even justify the unfairness and injustice...but it just doesn't matter.

Even all common sense things like 'more competition' and/or 'Tort reform' how many decades have these ideas been around? Definitely since I was a child which is more years ago than I care to remember... The laws are in their favor - hell - they ensure the laws are written in their favor because they own the Legislators that write the laws.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, it infuriates me but tired of banging my head on a brick wall...the only thing it gets me is a sore head.

 

I would have totally agreed about malpractice insurance being a major factor in the dramatic, upward and continuing spiral of healthcare costs over the past twenty years or so because, "that's what I heard too". But just a minute ago, for the first time, I Giggled, "doctors malpractice insurance costs in healthcare", and found quite a few articles on the subject. This is the first one I clicked on: Medical Malpractice: Myths and Realities - True Cost of Heathcare
I still maintain that the reasons for the continuing of run away medical costs is mainly the significant and continuing shrinkage of the domestic purchasing power of the overprinted, debt backed, monopolized dollar bill along with the excessive giving away of, "free" healthcare. It's not free it's actually paid for by inflating medical bills, by taxation and by adding to oversized government's bloated national debt.

 

Yep, honest mistakes happen, there's also the carelessness of inept doctoring and staff and then there's the plain old luck of the draw so when your time is up it's up and you gotta move on.
I just started to research the impact of malpractice insurance costs on the cost of healthcare and this is the first article I clicked on; it's an interesting read: Medical Malpractice: Myths and Realities - True Cost of Heathcare

 

The cost discrepancy is surprising wonder why? ExchangeRate.com - Currency Chart US Dollar vs Deutsche Mark USD/DEM Last 30 Days

 

Remember though, 20 years ago it was easy peasy for an employer to swing an 80/20 policy and even a modestly compensated employee, (i know because i was one), could easily manage the remaining costs. Why no more? Because the domestic purchasing power of the dollar bill has shrunk far more than paychecks for the mass's have increased so the numbers no longer work. Also, freebie healthcare for too many people, including the members of government who decide who gets to have affordable healthcare, is not helping matters.

 

Because you found it on the internet it must be true, right? Just because you find a site that you agree with doesn’t mean its the most accurate out there. Everyone’s got motives. Do we have a lot of national debt, yes. Do we need to do something about it, yes. Is it going to get better by nationalizing healthcare, hell no. I agree that the “free” healthcare is paid for on the backs of the people that do pay their bills. If an poor person or illegal goes into a hospital because they have some disease the hospital is required to treat them even though they know they will never get paid. They make up for that loss by charging the rest of us more. The thing is the people that do that generally pay NO taxes to begin with. Even if working poor pays some taxes then end up getting it all back and sometimes MORE than they paid in through the EITC. We will get screwed either way. I’d rather stick with the current method of screwing than the government method.

 

Now see, we were getting along just fine and then you went and opened up the B-52 bomb bay doors and expended ordinance on target me, sigh.
That's OK I get it for I am an achey oldER guy who must purchase his own healthcare and yours because I REFUSED to facilitate the elitist's, (in their own mind), lowest common denominator minority and their endless enslavement of a government monopoly created proletariat to the temporally lucrative & eternally idiotic industry of war. With that being said, government's can, (and do), contrive and collude to create the conditions ripe for the unjustifiable, avoidable and heinous acts of war, but government's are absolutely powerless to do anything without a whole bunch of dumb ass's to go along with it, (see photo of a government communally programmed mob of dumb asses, minus one individual holdout who turned out to be 100% correct by the way).
Regarding sources of information like, "finding it on the internet so it must be true", (tiresome rhetoric by the way), did you notice that I wrote that there were quite a few articles on the subject on the impact of malpractice insurance upon the cost of healthcare, or is researching multiple sources unnecessary because you were born with all knowledge?

Again, a main reason for the run away cost of healthcare over the past 20 years or so is the domestically broken, shrunken, mono-currency that we benignly call the dollar bill.
​

Free health insurance for millions of government employed, retired or persons otherwise dependent upon the government mule for their healthcare also significantly adds to the cost.
Also driving costs up is government regulation that limits consumer choices of healthcare providers, which reflects the sole sourcing, Communistic state of mind that the USA has become. The market should be busted wide open to see if allowing competition can serve all levels of income.
Medical costs are further driven up by the increased demands placed upon the medical system due to epidemics in Obesity and "legal" pharmaceutical abuse that did not exist 50 years hence.
Does the extremely high cost of medical education have a significant impact upon the cost of doctoring, well it doesn't appear that there's a lot of BMW belt tightening to me, but I could be wrong?
Do greedy hospital administrators and the consolidation of doctors & providers under the umbrella of, "Big Med", have a significant impact upon the costs of healthcare, I suspect it's not helping but I could be wrong just like I appear to have been wrong by believing the doctors who say that they have to jack their prices way up because of malpractice insurance.