One item on healthcare that needs reform.....

[Uben]

...is that hospitals need to be regulated to where they have to charge EVERYONE THE SAME PRICE! None of this giving insurance companies one rate and then charging private payers five times more. They need to hang the bastard who came up with that idea!
I understand the monetary theory behind it, but that does not excuse the abuse it causes. If they charge insurance companies $3 for a tylenol, they should not be allowed to charge private payers $10. They are receiving the same product.

[Donnachaidh]

1. they should not be allowed to charge $3 for a tylenol!

Hospital markups on drugs and basic supplies is obscene. They need to be HEAVILY regulated, and audited regularly to make sure they aren't ripping off patients. Whether they are insured or not.

[Warpy]

3. That $3.00 covers

the pharmacist who checks to make sure that it doesn't interfere with your other medications, the nurse who double checks it and then watches to see how you respond to it, with everybody documenting every detail down the line.

However, yes, there should be the one price. Since Medicare specifies discounts from providers, they can knock off a dime for Medicare.

Charging the people least able to pay 500% of what they charge the ones most able to pay is an evil practice that has to be stopped.

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Many states already

have statutes on the books that require this. But the bastards entrusted with enforcing the laws have failed to do so.

THe Wall Street Journal did a series of front page articles on this very issues a few years back.