
This is how American health care kills people - Chathamization
https://theweek.com/articles/666799/how-american-health-care-kills-people
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entee
Those who want the healthcare system to "work more like a market" would do
well to understand this article. Healthcare is different, you don't get to
price shop when you're passed out due to a car accident. Even when you do have
the opportunity to price shop, how do you know the cheaper option is just as
good? Is the surgeon down the street better or worse? Would you trust Yelp for
that? Would you bet your life on it?

Health care is complicated, expensive, opaque and even when superficially
transparent is affected by huge numbers of external factors.

Good article summarizing some of the issues:

[http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_bills/2017/01/why...](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_bills/2017/01/why_those_price_comparison_tools_to_reduce_medical_costs_don_t_work.html)

The JAMA study cited in the article:

[http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2518264](http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2518264)

We have to think about these complexities because otherwise we'll keep hurting
people. No solution will be perfect, but ideological ones will definitely be
worse.

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leepowers
Demand for health care is inelastic which makes it mostly immune to market
forces. With health care consumers really don't have a choice. Either they pay
whatever price is set by providers or they die or become disabled by their
condition. Whether the procedure costs $5 or $5000 is irrelevant. When it
comes down to saving your life you will take on any expense.

More nefariously (and a point that many people often miss) recovering from a
major illness is a full-time job. People who are very, very sick don't have
the mental concentration or energy to even do a desk job. And if the job
involves manual labor they're even more screwed. Strenuous physical activity
during an illness can exacerbate the symptoms and kill the patient. Even
having to stand for eight hours can greatly harm outcomes. So sick people have
the worst of both worlds: accruing enormous expenses for incredibly pricey
life-saving procedures and drugs, all while having their earnings drop to
zero.

~~~
treebeard901
> Whether the procedure costs $5 or $5000 is irrelevant

To expand on this, it's impossible to compare prices between providers when
the illness is known because the total cost is often not known until you
receive a bill.

~~~
leepowers
Also during an emergency situation you may be taken to an out-of-network
hospital or be treated by an out-of-network doctor at a hospital, of which
insurance may only cover 0%-50% of the bill. So you have no choice in
provider, no choice in price, yet have 100% responsibility for paying.

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cmurf
Doctors need to be salaried, rather than paid per procedure.

