quote:
Rationing. That is, you can reduce the quantity. There might be some other tweaks (better negotiations for prescription drugs, etc), but there is no magic bullet.

You can get the latest, greatest healthcare but it will cost you. Or you can add waiting lists.

Americans want the best and they want it now. That's the #2 reason our system costs so much.

#1 is that we are a bunch of fatties.

100%. Americans think we can have it all. It is just not possible. We need to focus on preventatives and nobody likes that much. Focus on diet, exercise, managing chronic conditions, etc.

Also, the way our system works with 3rd party payors, patients really pay no attention at all to what tests are done, are they doing xrays again that a different provider did yesterday, etc. We repeat tests, etc. because it's convenient and because physicians want them done at their own clinic, increasing costs. If every patient had skin in the game every time they went to the doc, I guarantee you they'd start paying more attention to what is done.

The more disjointed a system, the more expensive it is.

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Posted by Steadyhands

Slightly above I-10

Member since May 2016

6943 posts

Posted on 3/3/22 at 12:59 pm to Jay Quest

quote:
An acquaintance of mine went to the hospital shortly before Christmas 2021. Was there for approximately six hours with almost no medical assistance administered. Total cost, $18,000.

Virtue signaling politicians peacock in front of cameras talking about insurance coverage when cost is the real issue to resolve.

All of this. Biden speech was bullshite, but what he said could actually be done with healthcare.

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Posted by LaLadyinTx

Cypress, TX

Member since Nov 2018

6474 posts

Posted on 3/3/22 at 1:00 pm to lsu13lsu

quote:
quote:
Eliminate admin costs.

Many of the admin costs are determined by regulations. When I first started in healthcare, hospitals didn't even have a quality department. They started with one person and now it's a whole department at most places. Same with Infection Control, the size of the Medical Records (Health Information Mgmt) departments. So many facilities type things have dramatically grown as well. Every single piece of equipment must be tested and certified every year, even things that are pretty harmless. You've got the tiniest test being done on above the ceiling firewalls, equipment and contracts that monitor every thing you can possibly imagine, from refrigerator temperatures, to water (for Legionnaire's, having a water plan is a fairly recent thing), to any life and safety thing you can imagine.

Administration isn't just people added to be middle management, etc. Administration is people (or contractors) added to be able to meet Medicare's code of participation requirements that are ever increasing and to stay Joint Commission certified, which comes up with new measures of things every single year.

It's not like you just fire some middle management people. It's the whole thing, required by Medicare to keep your certification. These things just weren't that sophisticated 50 years ago.

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