Why do health care costs keep increasing?
Several factors:
Doctors have to order test after test to be sure that they have arrived at the correct diagnosis. Mistakes can be very costly, aside from the well being of the patient which as it should be, paramount. Doctors and hospitals must carry loads of liability insurance. Doctors are human and mistakes can happen. Even is a doctor believes he is 100% certain in his diagnosis he has to have a paper trail to back him/her up if a bad outcome is the result, and a malpractice suit is filed and the case goes to trial.
Another is inflation. Like most everything else a dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to.
But likely the biggest factor in my opinion is this.
Imagine that you own a nice restaurant. You serve good food in a pleasant atmosphere. Your restaurant is popular with many returning patrons and after their meal they are presented with the check which they promptly pay with either cash or credit card.
They leave happy and so are you.
Now imagine that when people come to your restaurant to eat they tell you up front that they have no money or credit to pay the check but that you are obligated to serve them. And not just burnt toast and a glass of water either, but whatever they may desire. When that word gets around your going to be out of business very quickly.
Of course you could possibly apply for government grants A.K.A. taxpayer money and open a soup kitchen and serve nothing but bread, gruel and government cheese.
So, despite the fact that Obamacare is the law of the land and having health insurance is mandatory. So many still can’t afford it. Why?
Too many young robust young people balked at the cost and decided it was cheaper to pay the penalty.
To many young, unhealthy, addicted, uneducated young people, many are unemployed or menially employed. They couldn’t pay either way.
Now lets through in an a huge aging population of baby-boomers many who have not exactly led a healthy lifestyle. Remember, that the biggest cost happens in the last six months of life.
Hospitals are losing money. Insurance companies are losing money and dropping out of Obamacare, otherwise known as the “affordable” care act. Obama has kept thing afloat by illegally subsidizing the insurance co. thru the ruse of “settling lawsuits” from said companies. But maybe that’s coming to the end.
So what is the solution? Well Obamacare is circling then drain …as planned. For Progressives it’s single payer. Doctors and hospitals just send the bill to the government, and then the government simply presses a few computer keys and electronically transfers payment to them. So simple except were talking government bureaucracy here, nothing will be simple. And aside from printing money government cannot create wealth, it can only take it from people who “worked” for it .
And he who pays the piper calls the tune, well if you thing dealing with an insurance company was bad, just wait. Doctor assisted suicide may be encouraged a little more.
Anyone ready for rationing?
Another solution would be to allow insurance companies to compete for healthy customers. Write policies for catastrophic events, allow policies to cross state lines, like car insurance. let insurance companies to pool resources to insure the uninsurable. A “free market” solution. Keep government regulation to a absolute minimum, and lets not forget “tort” reform.
Nah! that’s just crazy talk isn’t it?
P.S. Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital recently laid off around 400 people. Then they dropped out of the healthcare program that they helped develop.