Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

More and more, reliable sources have reported that,

• we do not have the best healthcare system in the world;
• it is near twice as expensive and covers far fewer citizens less effectively than other advanced countries in Europe and Asia;
• for those who can afford health insurance, the cost just keeps rising faster than most incomes, and
• for those who cannot afford (adequate) health insurance, the cost of health care can and often does bankrupt them and ruin their lives.

You might want to know why this is so.

 

Time magazine's recent report, "Bitter Pill: Why medical Bills Are Killing Us," answers a lot of the questions. Every point in the health care products supply and service chain is about maximizing price and profit—and not least of all, the not-for-profit hospitals. There are no effective market dynamics or mechanisms to control it. There is no overarching organizational control to rationalize it. But there are the ubiquitous lobbyists doing their best for all those profiting parties to be sure that the troubled, noncompetitive status quo does not change. While the article doesn’t address all the big  issues and problems—like the 40+% of all health care cost that are incurred in the last of year life—it takes us quite a way down that road.

Put the time into it. It’s worth understanding.

 

But what might be harder to understand is why our federal government isn't rushing to address these problems when the ever-increasing cost of health care is also the principal culprit in our longer-term budget crisis. You don't hear or read that as often, but it is true. Obamacare helped in access and process, who gets access and who pays for it, but doesn't do that much to address the competitiveness and price of health care products and services. And the congressmen and senators still keep listening to the pandering queue of health care lobbyists formed in their waiting rooms.

Link to the the article:
Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us | TIME.com