Ya know I never considered banning health insurance... and I was about to say that sounds idiotic... but as I try to type it i just keep going "he aint wrong".. if everyone had to pay cash people would be pissed as fuck at the rip off prices and might actually demand some change.
The problem is people dont know how to fix problems. So while they would demand change that demand would be "make it free for everyone!" and then we are right back at having insurance again.
@freemo It'd be the health care companies that'd actually need to make the change. They only charge so much because insurance covers 80% of costs. The vast majority of people can't afford the MSRPs of health care, so they'd either go without care or go to another country for care, greatly decreasing revenues in the health care sector. To turn things around, they would then need to bring down their prices so that they can get those customers back.
@realcaseyrollins@freemo the medical sector isn't exactly hurting for revenue. they're quite good at extorting it with the massive conflict of interest their entire field represents, actually. :comfywoozy:
The issue with supply-demand market mentality in healthcare is that the supply in limited and demand is infinite. You can always pay more to live longer, with diminishing returns, and most people will give everything they own to live just one more peaceful day.
You simply cant use supply and demand in that sort of dynamic without reaching extortion level prices quicky, as we have already seen.
@freemo@icedquinn I suppose? I'd guess in many cases it depends on the types of care we're talking about. Taking care of a broken bone or a pregnant lady isn't comparable to end-of-life care, or something like #insulin.
Even so, a rich person will spend a lot of money getting exorbanant care for a broken bone if they are scared of long-term function. People can be quite irrational about their health.
its not about how much they will spend, its about the fact that any person of any amount of money will spend all their disposable income and much of their indisposable income to get it.
A rich person wouldnt spend their last 500K on a car if it meant they were homeless. They would spend that on a treatment if they knew it would bive them a happier and or longer life.
@freemo@icedquinn How can people spend what they don't have? They're not the #USA government, nor do most people have absurdly high lines of credit on their credit cards.
Its not even a loan, you dont even know what your spending till you walk out most of the time.
Many years ago i had asthema, fairly severe. My insurance had lapsed and I spent a day or two in the hospital. Cost me almost 100K by the time I left, didnt have a penny to my name.
@realcaseyrollins@freemo apparenlty this conversation happened again so i'm just going to say medicine is a supply issue :youmusip:
the regulators suffocate the supply of goods. some small amount of that might be for the best, but when you crack open the literature the USA is on the extremely hostile side of the curve compared to saner places like Switzerland
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