> In the U.S., they point out, drugs are more expensive. Doctors get paid more. Hospital services and diagnostic tests cost more. And a lot more money goes to planning, regulating and managing medical services at the administrative level.
So, we're all getting a lower quality of care for a lot more money, due to how the healthcare "market" is configured.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/upshot/united-states-heal...
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/22/the-real-reason-medical-care...
https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/07/health/health-care-spending-s...
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2014/11/it-is-t...
Our system is a little sick, sure, but the bulk of the responsibility for the current situation lies squarely at our own feet as individuals. This problem will never be solved before America puts down the fork.
If you have insurance, chances are that you are not asking your doctor how much something is going to cost. You are not likely to shop around or work to get the best deal. As a healthcare provider, where is the incentive to bring costs down.
Also sometimes hospitals will lie about what they will charge -- happened to my daughter regarding her appendectomy. Should count as fraud.
You are not entitled to a living as bureaucratic waste. We should of course help retrain those who lose their jobs, just as we're doing for coal workers who are going to be out of a job within the next five years. I want my healthcare dollars going to healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, CNAs, drug research R&D, medical technology innovators), not private insurance companies, not administrators or third party billers, and most assuredly, not shareholders. I want the AMA to be handicapped from preventing us from dramatically increasing the number of doctors in the US (the American Medical Association operates as a cartel/cabal, attempting to limit supply to keep wages high); they also attempt to reduce the authority given to nurse practitioners [1].
> I would love for some sort of centralized system to push down costs, but I fear it's not realistically every going to happen.
The majority of Americans say the government should be responsible for ensuring health care coverage for all Americans [2]. Universal healthcare will arrive in the US eventually, the question is when. The current model is unsustainable, and will reach a tipping point.
[1] https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20171214/NEWS/17121...
[2] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/13/more-america...