GREED is causing "healthcare costs" to rise.

[rucky]

So it can't even be described as a "cost" - and let's quit using that language. What's crippling us is the billing practices of insurance companies - moreso the actual cost of care. It's a small but important distinction to make when discussing our current health care system.

[Warpy]

1. Lots of things are contributing toward the rise

not the least of which is that wages haven't kept pace with true inflation for the past 40 years, meaning anything created domestically like the health care industry is going to outpace anything we can get offshore in cost increase over time relative to wages.

Another thing driving costs is administrative overhead, from redundant bureaucracies in competing plans to bureaucracies in everything from doctor's offices and hospitals to deal with the often Byzantine paperwork they generate. Greed comes into play here because this is where the cadres of people whose jobs are to delay or deny coverage and care come in. It also covers stockholder profit and executive pay, plus advertising.

Still another thing is redundancy of expensive technology within a health care market. It's no secret that MRI scanners have been ridiculously overbuilt in this country, each competing hospital feeling the necessity to have the latest generation machine at all times when one or two machines would likely serve the whole market as well. This is why the Canadians famously schedule their MRI scans in the US. We overbuilt and charged ourselves a fortune for the privilege so they didn't have to.

Health care itself is labor intensive, and that will always drive costs that can't be contained without degrading service to the point it becomes more dangerous to seek care than do without it. We're almost there now, with cost cutting on the backs of health care staff at the maximum.

Single payer, the elimination of redundant bureaucracies, the consolidation of services and the common sense specialization of hospitals, and strict regulation can reduce the ridiculous costs we're bearing now while covering us all. However, don't ever expect health care to be inexpensive. That's why insurance to cover it is so desperately needed. Until we can pick and choose when and how to become ill, health care can't be forced into the consumer marketplace as a way to cut costs.

It just doesn't work that way.

[rucky]

3. No denying there are actual rising costs.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that everyone lumps in "profit margin" when they talk about cutting healthcare costs, and it should be in a class by itself. We don't even really know the margins, and we need to in order to determine the true costs. Right now the consumer covers all the costs you mention, just so the insurance companies can keep or increase their high margins. It's not a cost of doing business for them - it's our cost, not theirs.

Of course, single payer would take care of all this, but if our common ground in the debate right now is "first, cut costs" we need to be clear about what that means.

[snappyturtle]

2. Yeah, wouldn't you love to see the actual numbers. The numbers

that include the gross revenue of the insurance companies and the numbers of where that windfall goes!

However, I wouldn't lay all the blame on the insurance companies. I think the healthcare industry has figured out the insurance companies are their agents, so to speak, to get whatever the market will bare for their services and products, be it the cost of an office visit or pharmaceuticals or materials and supplies or equipment. They all help justify the outlandish 'bills' of the insurance companies. It's a cartel. The greed in this country isn't exclusive to Wall Street. imho

[blueworld]

4. I'm glad you started this

I worked for 4 insurance companies over 35 years, and I realize there are various reasons the cost of health care is spiraling out of control. However, as a consumer & insurance company employee, I've been flabbergasted for decades over scenes like this:

When I was 22, I was involved in a car accident that was completely the other guy's fault. Even though I was taken to the Emergency Room, I visited my own GP the next day. At that time he normally charged $25.00 for a visit. When I got to the window, the charge was $65.00! When I asked why, he said, "the insurance company will be paying for this"...

Same thing happens at hospitals regularly. And of course there's the rampant consumer fraud...

If the government set rates, this type of fraud would be much harder to perpetrate, another good reason for the public option.

[FreakinDJ]

5. You just now figured that out

16% admin cost
20% unreimbursed medical cost
20-30% profit margin

Tell me the money is not already in the system for every american to have health care

[rucky]

6. What touched me off was to hear Democrats call profit margins "costs"

We're not framing the debate.

[FreakinDJ]

7. NO - the kickbacks the politicians receive are cost

the profit margin is pure greed