Re:California's ‘Surprise’ Billing Law Is Protecting Patient...
by bart_spoon on Saturday September 28, 2019 @08:32AM
(#21099980)
That’s actually an ton. For all of the heat big pharma takes regarding drug prices, the spending on prescription drugs is like 8%. Meaning the entirety of the costs of the pharmaceutical industry is less than just what we are paying for physician salaries.
Re:California's ‘Surprise’ Billing Law Is Protecting Patient...
by SkyPuncher on Saturday September 28, 2019 @03:09PM
(#21102249)
IMO, pharmaceuticals aren't the problem either. Most drugs aren't outrageously priced (or have well priced generics). The hysteria over drug prices typically seems to revolve around a small set of outrageous cases.
My opinion is insurance as the primary billing method is almost exclusively responsible driving up costs. It adds a ton of complexity and admin work while discouraging general improvements to care.
To put things in perspective, physician salaries are less than 10% healthcare costs. A 25% decrease in salaries would only lead to a 2.5% change in healthcare costs.
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There are a lot of reasons healthcare is expensive. Most of those come down to processes and practices that are out of the hands of individual physicians.