Healthcare Isn't A Free Market, It's A Giant Economic Scam

[Pointedstick]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130 ... scam.shtml

If you know even the slightest bit about basic economics, the deeper you look at this system, the more and more you realize how insane it is. Nearly every single incentive is skewed, often dangerously so. The system is more or less designed to be abused, while making it increasingly difficult for people to get reasonable care. I'd argue that it may be worse than if you asked a bunch of economists to design the worst possible system of incentives.

And we're more or less stuck with it. For all the debate and the fight over reform, the reform package we got really did next to nothing to address any of these kinds of underlying issues. And this has nothing to do with silly claims of whether or not it's "socialist". The entire healthcare system, before and after the recent health reform, does not resemble anything even remotely close to a free market system. And, while there are some who argue that healthcare itself shouldn't be subjected to free market forces, but rather towards what provides the best care, it's not like the system is designed to match up with that belief either.

The system is completely broken. In researching other aspects of the system, I'd already come to the conclusion that it should be scrapped entirely, with something completely different put in its place, but this article just helps take that belief to another level. And, the scary thing is that the chances of that happening are basically zero. We're stuck with this system, in part because the economic incentives are screwed up so much that it's ripe for widespread abuse. And when you have so many billions of dollars flowing, with a small group of folks profiting massively from that, there's simply no chance they'll allow for any real changes.

[notsheigetz]

My first wife was dead from lung cancer for only about a month when the bills started coming amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was totally unexpected as I had health insurance with an HMO and was only expecting to pay some deductibles. For some reason all the claims had been rejected by the insurance company.

This seems to happen to me every time I come in contact with the health care system - there is always some kind of hassle with billing codes or something and it takes forever to straighten it out.

In this case I hooked up my RV and headed out west for a few months to let them sort it all out. I expected to finally see a bill for the deductibles when I got back home but to my very great surprise I never saw another bill. I have no idea how they worked it all out and don't care.

A couple of years ago a doctor finally talked me into getting a colonoscopy and on the evening before it was scheduled to take place I got a call from the clinic informing there would be some additional charges not covered by insurance. I asked how much and they said they couldn't say. I told them to cancel. The doctor fired me.

Another doctor finally talked me into it again and I had the colonoscopy,  supposedly to be paid for by insurance. But guess what? The insurance claim was rejected because the billing codes said it was medically necessary and not preventative.

Just got another bill from my wife's required Obamacare physical in which ALL of the blood tests ordered by the doctor were rejected by the insurance company because the billing codes said they were preventative and not medically necessary.

What a f***ed up system. I stay as far away from it as possible.

[rhymenocerous]

Time has a really good article that basically explains why medical bills are so high: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/b ... -us/.  Pointedstick is correct that there is no free market.  The price for certain services just baffles me.  Last year or so, I went to the doctor because I had bronchitis.  He wanted me to blow into this tube thing that would then draw a graph on a computer.  I messed up the first time so he let me try again.  When the bill came, I was charged $80 for every time I blew into that stupid machine.

[Benko]

Time has a really good article that basically explains why medical bills are so high: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/b ... -us/.  Pointedstick is correct that there is no free market.  The price for certain services just baffles me.  Last year or so, I went to the doctor because I had bronchitis.  He wanted me to blow into this tube thing that would then draw a graph on a computer.  I messed up the first time so he let me try again.  When the bill came, I was charged $80 for every time I blew into that stupid machine.

Without knowing details itis difficult to be certain, but I suspect that I would not be going back to that doctor.

[MachineGhost]

Not.  Holding.  My.  Breath.

[MachineGhost]

MachineGhost linked to Brill's article (the primary focus of your link's author) in this thread.

PS, you go stand in the corner for penance!  Bad boy!