Anyone who has taken the time to read my boring stuff knows I’m no fan of the health care system. Why? Our system is unaffordable and out of reach for millions of Americans. The system is based on paying a premium price instead of an affordable price. We pay top dollar because we don’t actually pay for anything. The insurance company pays the price because they can set the price. Anyone without insurance is forced to pay convenience store prices for health care. This is absolutely wrong. Health care is not a matter of convenience, it’s a necessity for us all.
To improve the state of care, we must demand competition to lower the prices charged. What does a “Complete Blood Count” cost? How much does it cost to draw blood? How much does running the actual building add to the price of care? If blood is donated free of cost, why does it cost so much if we need to get it back? Health care is “Big Business.” It’s a ripoff and nobody wants to ask the tough questions. We won’t like the answers. There is only one answer. It’s a Monopoly and we’ve got to bust it up. Where is the competition?
Sadly, we’ve got to be the competition. We must demand alternatives just like we do at the Supermarket. We need to know the prices up front so we can have the ability to “haggle” for the best price. We cannot just accept the price they demand. I realize hospitals know they have us over a barrel. If you are dying, you really don’t have much of a choice in what one is willing to pay. If we live, they hit us with a tremendous bill and that practically kills us. Do we feel grateful or guilty? Would you shop at a market blind and pay whatever the cashier decided to charge? Hell no! We need to focus on the price of care before we actually need to buy it. Competition can come from volunteering to reduce the price charged. Donating and banking blood in advance. Taking the cost of running the building out of the cost of care provided. Getting treated at home instead of in house. We must stop allowing insurance companies from passing on additional costs to unsuspecting customers. This is the problem with health care. We don’t know what we are getting and why. Getting what we pay for is essential wherever we do business. We need some accountability. If the market price is too high maybe it’s time for a good old fashioned boycott? Not knowing the price in advance is the problem. Certainly, we can fix it.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:51 am
With all the talk about health care the last couple of days, I offered my thoughts on how to save money. I offered a sample of ways to cut costs and improve the system, but here’s a little more meat. The problem with health care is “Specialization without competition is a Monopoly.” If there is only one person who can fix your car, they can charge whatever they want or demand. How do we put competition into the system? If my thoughts are so Moronic, you figure it out. It’s all about changing who the consumer actually is. It’s all about looking at a dinosaur paradigm. Health care must go “Mobile.” The last thing anyone wants to do is die in a cold, uncaring, sterile place that charges us an arm and a leg and can’t wait to take our organs so they can sell them.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I could not agree more with this article. However, I feel we should not place total blame on the insurance companies. They exist to make money. If they do not make this money they fold. Competition has to enter the problem from the ground up. The companies have to need the customer. The doctors and hospitals have to need the companies. As soon as the people stop needing any of the above three, things will get better.