Why Health Care in America Really Costs So Much

Bill,

It has nothing to do with the system; private, public, Medicare, Obamacare, Aetna, Athem, or cold hard cash, it all comes out the same. That's because of who gets paid and how much they make.

From that august medical journal. the New York Times:

If you look around the world, lots of countries have single-payer systems. And all of them pay substantially less for health care than we do in the United States.... So how could a single-payer system here still be so expensive?“

The big thing is that providers here make quite a bit more money than they do anywhere else, and in order to get in the ballpark of where these other countries are, you’d have to reduce payment rates to physicians to much, much lower levels...” “...That’s just hard to do.”

....the United States pays substantially higher prices for doctors, hospital stays and prescription drugs than the rest of the group. Medicare pays less than the United States average, but not enough less to make up that difference.

The average salary for my specialty? $350,000. The approximate number of cardiologists in the greater metropolitan area in which I live? More than 100. The approximate number for a similar population in the UK, where the average cardiologist makes 280,000? Twenty.

So before the Bernie bros get too excited about a single payer system, they had better reckon with the realities of a profession that;s had it very good for a very long time, and that isn't likely to give up that privilege without a ferocious fight.

Eli

A Post-Fact World.

Eli,

Great article on Venezuela in The Atlantic. This part struck me:

A case in point is the price controls, which have expanded to apply to more and more goods: food and vital medicines, yes, but also car batteries, essential medical services, deodorant, diapers, and, of course, toilet paper. The ostensible goal was to check inflation and keep goods affordable for the poor, but anyone with a basic grasp of economics could have foreseen the consequences: When prices are set below production costs, sellers can’t afford to keep the shelves stocked. Official prices are low, but it’s a mirage: The products have disappeared.

Of course, price controls don't work for others things as well, like the ACA and minimum wage, but whatever, we live in a post fact world.

Bill

Cheer Up It Could Worse Part 2

Bill

Or Illinois

Eli

Cheer Up, It Could Be Worse

Bill,

We could live in France

Eli

Why Not a $50 Minimum Wage!!???

Eli,

In the fantasy world of Grandma Clinton, the Socialist and economically illiterate, like #BabyTrump, wage increases have no impact on labor demand or product prices. Back in the real world.

Wendy’s (WEN) said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages.

It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendy’s President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations have been raising prices to offset wage hikes.

But what do I care? I don't eat much fast food. Food is a smaller portion of my budget than the average consumer and my children are more likely to be hired versus the less fortunate for the fewer minimum wage jobs available.

Bill

The Rolling Stones and the Irony of Trump Voters

Bill,

Unfortunately most Trump Voters don't seem to understand what irony is.

THE ROLLING STONES

"Salt Of The Earth"

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Let's drink to the salt of the earth
Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth
And when I search a faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray and
Black and white
They don't look real to me
In fact, they look so strange
Raise your glass to the hard working people
Let's drink to the uncounted heads
Let's think of the wavering millions
Who need leading but get gamblers instead
Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
Empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parade of the gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio
And when I look in the faceless crowd
A swirling mass of grays and
Black and white
They don't look real to me
Or don't they look so strange
Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's think of the lowly of birth
Spare a thought for the rag taggy people
Let's drink to the salt of the earth
Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's drink to the salt of the earth
Let's drink to the two thousand million
Let's think of the humble of birth

Eli

Our State Is Too Blue

Bill,

I couldn't agree more with your assessment of our august governor's performance. He appears to have little acumen or interest in helping to grow the state's economy. We are a highly educated, well placed workforce, yet our record compared to our equally blue neighbor to the north and its deeply popular Republican governor is miserable. Malloy's answer to to anemic growth and the resultant yawning gap between revenue and expenditure? Screw municipalities and squeeze hospitals. This is cynicism raised to an art form. The legislature and Malloy can claim they haven't raised taxes while the costs are passed down to cities and towns, many of which are ill equipped to replaced the lost revenue. Who will suffer the most? As usual, it's the poor whom the Governor claims to care so much about.

The state's revenue services commissioner admits that the top 5-7 tax payers an  generate an enormous share of Connecticut's revenue. As with any private citizen, they have the option to get up and move to Florida.

Get off your butt Governor. Get to work helping to build our economy. At least don't get in the way.

Eli