Government-Run Healthcare is More Efficient Than Private Healthcare

[sendero]

7. Medicare and Medicaid have 2 trememdous advantages.

... first, by eschewing the ridiculous negotiation of prices that hospitals engage in at great cost, they have an immediate advantage of lower overhead.

Second, by setting prices they can control costs, something the managed care insurance companies have very little incentive to do. After all, the more they pay out the higher their profits. Insurance is a cost-plus business. The only impediment is that eventually if you raise prices too much people will drop out.

Most people don't want to say it, but most of our medical providers are seriously overpaid. I'm not talking about primary care physicians, the insurance cos squeezed them dry. I'm talking about just about everyone else. Surgeons name their price, if they want $20,000 for a 1 hour surgery they will get it. Specialists of all kinds charge ridiculous rates and they get them.

Drug and device makers, same deal.

Medicare/Medicaid puts an end to that by saying "we will pay this". Of course, some Drs will choose not to take M/M but that's only because there is a ready supply of folks whose insurance will happily reimburse $500 for a wart removal or somesuch.

It's all going to fall apart eventually.