What makes the US health care system so expensive

http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/?p=9006

by iamelgringo • 16 years ago

29 15 16 years ago

gjm11• 16 years ago

Earlier discussion, two days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1747202

(There are other posts in the same series, to which the one linked here is the introduction. At least one has been submitted to HN, but hasn't attracted any comments.)

fragmede• 16 years ago

For the temporally challenged, the linked articles are all already up.

benmccann2• 16 years ago

I have a hard time believing the main cause is overuse of medicine although it's a likely contributor. I was in a car crash a couple weeks ago, went to the ER, waited 8 hours without seeing a doc, gave up and went home. Just got the bill for $1,000. $1,000?! to sit in a waiting room without seeing a doctor! Prices at hospitals are unconscionable and divorced from reality. No one asks what things cost and so the hospitals take advantage.

chopsueyar2• 16 years ago

You need to send a bill to the hospital for your 'consulting' time.

dbrannan• 16 years ago

Are you going to contest that?

benmccann2• 16 years ago

Nope. My insurance is picking up the tab, so I have no incentive to. I did however get my copay waived.

iamelgringo• 16 years ago

Having been an ER nurse for 17 years, I hear ya. It really sucks. The whole system is pretty crappy.

Think about it. If you're having a heart attack, when you hit the door of my ER, I am able to pull a trigger that causes huge team of people to spring into action.

Our goal is to get you to our Cardiac Cath lab in less than 60 minutes, have an Interventional Cardiologist with 15 years of training under his belt work from 4 feet away, and thread a wire through an artery in your heart that's 3mm wide and inflate a balloon inside of that clogged artery to 8 atmospheres of pressure so that your heart muscle doesn't die.

That requires a team of 2-3 nurses, an ER tech, an EKG tech, lab tech and radiology tech in the ER alone. 2 nurses and a Cath tech. An ER doctor, a Radiologist (usually reading films from home). Not to mention the crew in the lab that run the battery of 30 lab tests in less than 20 minutes. Also, registration staff and clerical help to help move the process along.

But, when we're not doing that, we take care of ear aches, tooth aches and people who were in fender benders. Not to mention the uninsured alcoholic lays in a gurney in the hall who is swearing at staff, peeing on the floor and in general being unpleasant for 8 hours while he sobers up and can walk out the door.

So, yeah. The care that we give is crazy expensive. But, what people don't realize is that using the ER for minor stuff is like going to a Mercedes dealer to get an oil change for your 86 Chevette.

The whole system sucks. I'm sorry you had to wait so long to be seen. It's awful.

stygianguest2• 16 years ago

Simple: Americans, pious and sinful as they are, don't want to go to hell. Hence their money flows towards churches and healthcare.

evo_92• 16 years ago

...pious and sinful...

You cannot be serious, are you?

CapitalistCartr• 16 years ago

Please don't fee the trolls. Evo, you know that.

stygianguest2• 16 years ago

Indeed, I was not.

gregwebs• 16 years ago

Unfortunately you won't find the answer here. In part the problem is we are comparing ourselves to Europe, which is still very similar to us.

The real answer is that we are extraordinarily unhealthy. We now assume that we are supposed to have an assortment of health problems that must be alleviated by drugs or costly medical interventions.

One remarkable example to demonstrate this point is that we assume humans are required to have dentists and orthodontists pull and shape their teeth for them to come in correctly. Of course, that is not the case- such a creature could not survive in the wild and there is ample evidence to the contrary: http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price8.html

ursablanco• 16 years ago

It's a silly thesis. For one thing it confuses cause and effect.

For another, compare the per capita GDP of Norway, which is higher than the US's and Norwegian health outcomes, which are also better.

I'm left wondering; what about the current situation so appeals to the blogger that they attempt to make it an inevitable outcome of being a really rich country.

chopsueyar2• 16 years ago

Our crappy food supply.

What makes the US health care system so expensive

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