American Thinker: Donald Trump tweeted that Britain’s National Health Service is “broke and not working.” All too true: expenses have forced 40% of walk-in health centers to close, all elective surgery in January to be cancelled, and primary care has been decimated, it’s not surprising that problems have surfaced. It is just as predictable that the usual call for “more money” echoes around the UK. All this is the result of economic laws that have been completely ignored since the days of Aneurin Bevan, the father of the UK NHS.
The first is the Law of Rationing. In short, “Everything is rationed, either by price or by rule.” I can’t afford a private jet. Price rationing limits those to people of substantial wealth, and their high price acts as a signal in the market to balance the supply of private jets with the market of willing buyers.
But suppose that the government declared that private jets were free. Everyone would want one. Suddenly there would be a shortage of hangars and runway space. And to pay for the jets, taxes on workers would rise, because the workers who build private jets have to get paid. The unintended consequences are mind-blowing. Ultimately, the government would have to start limiting who could have private jets. First, they would require a pilot’s license. Then, more secure hangars would be required. Finally, you’d have to prove that you really, really need a private jet. more here
Kill everyone over 50, save the system
Hey! I resemble that!
Years ago, I asked a hospital administrator why a single aspirin at the hospital costs 20 times more than an entire bottle of aspirin at the drug store. His answer? “I don’t know.”
There are individuals who are bucking the system and arranging directly for their own health care with medical professionals. In some cases, they can obtain medical procedures for less than the cost of their deductibles and co-pays by dealing directly with the doctor and the medical facility. It takes effort, but in the end money talks.
The way to control costs is to take the decision-making away from the insurance companies and put it back into the hands of the consumers. As Wyatt noted, when we make the actual purchase decision we will make thoughtful decisions but when we have no ability to control the cost all we have to complain about is the monthly insurance rate.
Simple deregulation will fix it, as with pretty much everything.
The reason an aspirin cost @20 bucks is the same reason a hammer on a B@ woiuld cost $5000. There are all kinds of other costs in maintining a system or an extremely expensive aircraft so the costs get borne across every item in the inventory. Your hospital bill may show a $20 Aspirin but it dosn’t show the cost of heating the place, it may show TV at $50 per day (for local programming) but it doesnt’ show the water bill. It may not be the best way, in fact I’d tend to put a line item in the bill called Maintenance with a single dollar value then on the back of the bill lists all the items that go into Maintenance. Make patients understand it’s not just the doctors, nurses and orderlies you see that are responsible for running the joint.
Tort Reform is needed.
Plus…
Hospitals high charges are for various reasons. But a huge part of it is people who skip out on the bill- Like the illegals, and the feds through medicaid and medicare. And the rest of us get stuck with the high cost.
When I live in SoCal, the valley had 3 trauma centers. By the time I left, there was one left. And that place was busy doing free tattoo removals for gangbangers, who were, you guessed it, illegals.