Vox says that one of the most important issues is why Americans pay so much for care that costs less elsewhere. One reason why: America's two basic systems for providing care both put the payment on organizations with huge pools of money. Insurance companies have big budgets, but they are dwarfed by the Feds who run Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs.
Inflation follows naturally when more dollars chase the same number of services.
The article wasn't very detailed in it's analysis, as presented. Did the "costs" of healthcare in other countries take into account the subsidies, grants, and who knows what all those governments pay out into account in calculating the "costs" of an MRI or whatever? I seriously doubt it.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say I don't agree with the premise- costs are a foundational problem in the health care calculus, and things like torte reform, national markets for insurance, etc. would go a long way to helping that. The best thing would be if we could detach it all from compensation for employment, as that twists things in so many ways, most of them not for the better overall.