Why Does Health Care in the U.S. Cost So Much?

Out of 310 million people. Only 32 million have no insurance.

So the idea that only "the rich" are getting medical care is an outright lie.

The vast majority of Americans are getting the medical care they desire and are happy with services..they just want costs a little lower.

 

And 40,000 die each year because their insurance is inadequate or does not exist.

Only 4x the Libyans who have died fighting Gaddafi.

Hey, only 40,000. You're doin' well.

 

In a nation of 310 million you are going to whine about 40k??

Are we running a nation based on logic, statistics or are we trying to run a nation on feel good emotions?

I don't believe that every human can be, or even should be, saved.

 

We will remember you said that.

 

Look roon, Medicare only covers people over 65. The insurance companies make their money insuring younger(healthy) people. They are more than happy to shift the burden over to the Gov't when people get old. People say the gov't cannot run a healthcare system as well as the private sector. Well check someone who turns 65. Now you are on medicare. Medicare will pay 80% of you healthcare costs. To pay foir it they deduct a little over $100 from your social security check.At present Medicare is pretty much breaking even. With all the baby boomers they project deficts in the near future. Thats 80% for $100. OK ,now you need to get a supplemental policy from a insurance co to cover the other 20%. That will cost you $150 -200 a month.
OK Lets see here. 80% costs $100 20% cost 150-200 Which is the better deal. Wonder why healthcare costs so much in this country? Its because we are being robed by these companies. If you doubt my numbers ask anyone who is over 65 on medicare. If we had Universal healthcare in this co. it wuld be a lot cheaper for everyone. INSURANCE COMPANIES should not even be involved in healthcare. They are taking a piece of the pie which they are not entitled, it only increases the cost.

 

Unfortunately, you are neglecting one major problem with Medicare. Are you aware that one out of every eight dollars (taxpayer dollars) of Medicare claims is lost to fraud? Congress finds it easier to ignore this problem and instead allocate more and more money to Medicare to make up for the money that is lost to fraud each year.

It would make a lot more sense for Congress to upgrade the Medicare system to use the same fraud detection and prevention systems that are in use today by the private insurance companies. Why they don't do this is a mystery to me! Instead, they wait and launch an investigation only after evidence of fraud is clearly evident on the radar screen. By this time it is impossible to recover the money that has been paid out to fraudulent doctors and unscrupulous clinics.

Check this out!

 

I"M not saying medicare is perfect. You disregarded my numbers.Yes there is fraud in medicare. In the private sector they do not call it fraud when they rob us by their high premiums, they call it capitalism. What the market will bear. Well it has bankrupted us.

 

If you think that medicare is funded with one hundred dollars per patient per month, I have a bridge Id like to sell you.

 

So there we have it.

If it is inconvenient for the rich to keep the poor alive, let them eat cake .... or something.

Last person to say that lost her head.

 

Good post.

And I agree insurance companies should have no place in basic health care. Health is a government responsibility. But if people want more and can pay for more than govts offer, then there is a place for supplemental health insurance.

 

it sure is

 

No it is not. You are confusing what the recipient has to pay and what the government subsidizes. Those are two ENTIRELY different things.

 

In fact..... Here is the relevant information from 2004.

"•Per person personal health care spending for the 65 and older population was $14,797 in 2004"

https://www.cms.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/25_NHE_Fact_Sheet.asp

That is from the US Dept of Health and Human Services

 

This report is encouraging. Medicare fraud is one reason our heatlh care costs are so high. One out of every eight Medicare dollars is lost to fraud. These losses are passed on to the taxpayer each year by Congress when they refund the program to include these losses.

 

Why do you Yanks waste so much money on medical treatments that cost the earth and produce worse outcomes than either the Europeans or Australasians?

And, in the process, makes it unaffordable to your own citizens?

 

It would be nice if Medicare could reduce the amount of fraud to zero but that is not likely since the republicans have continually refused to provide sufficient funds to investigate and prosecute fraudsters.

One would think that these new right wing zealots of government efficiency are keenly interested in rooting out waste fraud and abuse but their recent legislative initiatives would reduce funding for every part of government dedicated to doing so.

 

Your problem is less the concept of Medicaid and Medicare.

It is the horrendous cost of health care per se.

Reduce that and you solve much of your problem.

But, hey, you love private enterprise. Which is killing you.

 

Do away with Medicare fraud and the cost of Medicare will easily drop at least 20%.

This means our nation can fulfill the health care needs of our seniors at a cost savings of at least 20%.

Instead, Congress increases the funding for Medicare each year to make up for the taxpayer dollars lost to fraudulent claims by unscrupulous doctors and health clinics.

 

These discussions were very good.

Why Does Health Care in the U.S. Cost So Much?

"That’s because 20 percent of patients account for 80 percent of spending, and that 20 percent is made up mostly of the chronically ill."

“Indeed, perhaps the most significant reason Americans are drowning in health care debt may shock you: Americans are getting far too much unnecessary care. Of our total $2.3 trillion health care bill last year, a whopping $500 billion to $700 billion (30%) was spent on treatments, tests, and hospitalizations that did nothing to improve our health. Even worse, new evidence suggests that too much health care may actually be killing us.”

Even as millions aren’t getting treatments they vitally need, a leading medical journalist argues that the main culprit in the soaring cost of American health care is actually overtreatment… and all that extra care is making us very sick.

$500 BILLION: The amount that Americans spend annually on unnecessary care.

30,000: The number of Medicare recipients who die each year as a result of unneeded care.

50%: The portion of surgeries, tests, and procedures that are not backed by scientific evidence.

 

Doctors from Europe and Australia/ New Zealand are every bit as well qualified as American ones. They all do the same training to the same standards. Yet the US makes it extremely difficult for a European trained doctor to work in the US so they can keep the supply of doctors low and prices high. They manage to convince the idiot flag wavers that US medicine is vastly superior to everyone else in the world which is why they can;t accept NON US doctors.

 

Fat cat and CEO profit....simple answer. "Administrative" costs that are "redirected". Lots and lots of profit for those "non profits".