tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637306492578976526.post9047773451764444666..comments2023-10-31T12:01:15.041-04:00Comments on An Inconvenient Bruce: "The doctor will see you now......bwahahahahahah"Brucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11375845322203361927noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637306492578976526.post-2493430396034397102010-01-06T22:43:41.843-05:002010-01-06T22:43:41.843-05:00I give up. I can only hope that I am dead before y...I give up. I can only hope that I am dead before your group takes over health care. But first, I've got to do that cost/benefit analysis on death vs. the alternative. Isn't Milton Friedman dead? Apparently, the analysis augered in death's favor. Milton would never go against the numbers.Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11375845322203361927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637306492578976526.post-83751267646140043562010-01-06T20:00:48.664-05:002010-01-06T20:00:48.664-05:00No, emergency visits are probably not going to be ...No, emergency visits are probably not going to be helped much by a transparent market. At least not directly (but if I cared that hospital a. charged me 35% more than what I later found out hospital b. charges for the same procedure - then I might drive next door to hospital b. next time, forcing hospital a. to lower their prices). <br /><br />But I also think you used more extreme examples. It might help with MRI's, cat-scans, x-rays, testing, non-urgent specialist visits, elective surgeries, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637306492578976526.post-27802407743974740412010-01-06T09:46:51.754-05:002010-01-06T09:46:51.754-05:00When one arrives at the hospital with a a pulse of...When one arrives at the hospital with a a pulse of 20 and blood pressure of 300/180, pausing for "an internal cost/benefit analysis" and then foregoing treatment because the analysis suggests against it, seems unrealistic. But, then again, I don't think like an economist. Very few with a burst appendix or multiple myeloma do either. Cost/benefit analyses work very well for boob jobs and tummy tucks but are slippery when it comes to true health care.Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11375845322203361927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-637306492578976526.post-79173270191198961912010-01-05T22:21:08.001-05:002010-01-05T22:21:08.001-05:00I could be wrong, but I think a free-marketeer wou...I could be wrong, but I think a free-marketeer would say health care costs should be contained by the end-user performing an internal cost/benefit analysis for each transaction. Ideally, hundreds of millions of users doing this for all health care transactions would naturally drive down costs. <br /><br />I say ideally because I don't know empirically whether this is true or not. Its not really ever been tried in any country in the modern medical era (to my knowledge). Which I find strange, because its without a doubt proven to be the most efficient method of cost control in every other single industry that I know of (this includes technical, non-technical, essential, and non-essential industries). It's weird to me that most don't want to give this idea the time of day. <br /><br />I haven't handed a receptionist more than a $35 co-payment for anything in 8 years. That includes numerous PCP, specialists, drugs, and even surgeries. I really couldn't care less how much my doctor charges me. Limitless consumption of a scarce product should drive up costs, and its proven to be true in our system (and others). <br /><br />I suppose that central-planning is the other option for cost control, but we do have empirical evidence available for that - and its just not very convincing to me. <br /><br />OECD Health Care Costs Per Capita - % Change from 1990 to 2007: <br /><br />11.) UK 211%<br />17.) US 159%<br />19.) France 149%<br />21.) Japan 129%<br />23.) Canada 123%<br /><br />Its very true that we are not successfully controlling costs - but it doesn't appear to me that anyone has figured it out either. Maybe nobody has tried the only method that will work? <br /><br />I know its not a perfect idea and there are plenty of reasons why it would be difficult, but I just can't see any reason why I should be forced to buy insurance from my employer and have no say over what type of coverage I have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com