Show HN: Compare prices that US hospitals charge patients, insurance companies

Re:Show HN: Compare prices that US hospitals charge patients... by electriclove on Monday January 18, 2021 @12:08PM (#25823859)

There will never be 10x as many providers due to the AMA and lobbying. Existing interests don't want to see lower prices and competition.

If this was possible, I'd agree with you. But the reality is that the best we can hope for is single payer.

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Re:Show HN: Compare prices that US hospitals charge patients... by eldavido on Monday January 18, 2021 @02:32PM (#25825581)

I was arguing with a doctor friend recently about the AMA. He's on team New York Times, "knows" the Koch brothers are Satan incarnate, "knows" Trump owes Russian oligarchs money, etc.

It just didn't register that the AMA is the sixth-biggest spending organization on DC lobbying [1], right behind Blue Cross Blue Shield (an insurer) and the American Hospital Association.

People worry about the NRA and all kinds of other stuff. They should really get mad about how outrageously the medical industry lobbies (as do the realtors), and how much they've managed to extract from ordinary Americans. It's an utter coup of PR that people aren't rioting in the streets about this. Everything about the medical industry -- licensing, high physician salaries, etc. is rigged to be good for insiders.

[1] https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders

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