Re:The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company
by chongli on Wednesday January 27, 2021 @03:54PM
(#25933780)
It's a bit more complicated than that. Health care costs have skyrocketed in the US. One of the big contributors to that has been the explosion in testing, both routine and diagnostic. These large costs aren't always shared to the same degree with other countries that have socialized medicine.
One example is with MRI scans. MRI machines, and the technicians and doctors who work with them, are insanely expensive. The US is, of course, not the only country with MRI machines. However, in countries with socialized medicine there may be a much longer wait for people to get an MRI scan for a non-critical issue. What about in the US? If you've got the money, you can get one right away. As a Canadian, I've seen tons of advertisements over the years targeting Canadians for MRIs as a cross-border service.
So the question is: is getting an MRI now instead of waiting 6 months a basic need? Private MRI clinics are definitely profiting from it. It definitely seems frustrating for people on the waiting list who can't afford to cross the border and pay out of pocket. However, it doesn't seem nearly as bad as a company price-gouging people on life-saving insulin, for example.
Re:The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company
by Animats on Wednesday January 27, 2021 @03:56PM
(#25933815)
Too much of that is markup. The cost of MRI machines is down, and the cost of CT scanners is way down. But charges for those services have not dropped to match.
One example is with MRI scans. MRI machines, and the technicians and doctors who work with them, are insanely expensive. The US is, of course, not the only country with MRI machines. However, in countries with socialized medicine there may be a much longer wait for people to get an MRI scan for a non-critical issue. What about in the US? If you've got the money, you can get one right away. As a Canadian, I've seen tons of advertisements over the years targeting Canadians for MRIs as a cross-border service.
So the question is: is getting an MRI now instead of waiting 6 months a basic need? Private MRI clinics are definitely profiting from it. It definitely seems frustrating for people on the waiting list who can't afford to cross the border and pay out of pocket. However, it doesn't seem nearly as bad as a company price-gouging people on life-saving insulin, for example.