The Real Problem With American Healthcare: The Cost

[acri1]

I am curious as to where the idea that healthcare should be cheap comes from?...

Yes, I'm sure it would be great for society if healthcare is so expensive that only rich people can afford it. After all nothing that happens in a capitalistic society can ever be bad.


I'm hoping we take it back to the peasants and nobles days pretty soon.


We may even get to the stage where food is also so expensive that only the rich can afford it. Which is fine...where did the idea that it should be cheap come from? If poor people want to eat then they shouldn't be poor. Besides, nobody ever talks about how the quality of our food is superior to food on other countries. Whether people can "afford it" is irrelevant. Free Market FTW.

 

[Regular_P]

Yes, I'm sure it would be great for society if healthcare is so expensive that only rich people can afford it. After all nothing that happens in a capitalistic society can ever be bad.


I'm hoping we take it back to the peasants and nobles days pretty soon.


We may even get to the stage where food is also so expensive that only the rich can afford it. Which is fine...where did the idea that it should be cheap come from? If poor people want to eat then they shouldn't be poor. Besides, nobody ever talks about how the quality of our food is superior to food on other countries. Whether people can "afford it" is irrelevant. Free Market FTW.

We already have. The current climate is modern feudalism.

 

[the cac mamba]

I am curious as to where the idea that healthcare should be cheap comes from?...

well everyone is inclined to get sick, you shouldnt be getting raped for procedures

 

[DEAD7]

Yes, I'm sure it would be great for society if healthcare is so expensive that only rich people can afford it. After all nothing that happens in a capitalistic society can ever be bad.


I'm hoping we take it back to the peasants and nobles days pretty soon.


We may even get to the stage where food is also so expensive that only the rich can afford it. Which is fine...where did the idea that it should be cheap come from? If poor people want to eat then they shouldn't be poor. Besides, nobody ever talks about how the quality of our food is superior to food on other countries. Whether people can "afford it" is irrelevant. Free Market FTW.

We already have. The current climate is modern feudalism.

well everyone is inclined to get sick, you shouldnt be getting raped for procedures

So basically it's just an emotionally based assumption that it should be cheap, since being determined by supply and demand would be mean/ruthless/immoral...








And again the difference in quality is ignored...

 

[the next guy]

So basically it's just an emotionally based assumption that it should be cheap, since being determined by supply and demand would be mean/ruthless/immoral...


And again the difference in quality is ignored...

But why does the private system cost more. If the system was better then Canada, then we the people would save money. Instead, we have people walking into ER's for basic care, some die and I the taxpayer pay the cost. That does not sound like capitalism.

 

[Crakface]

The costs are high because everything is high. Mainly the rent, land, mortgages, gas and food.

 

[DEAD7]

But why does the private system cost more. If the system was better then Canada, then we the people would save money. Instead, we have people walking into ER's for basic care, some die and I the taxpayer pay the cost. That does not sound like capitalism.

This too starts the story in the middle...

Why should things be cheap?

I understand that we want them to be, and its nice when they are... But that hardly seems like a case for circumventing basic supply and demand...

I wonder the same thing about gas, what makes everyone think gas should be cheap?

Or food, or space, or anything? Where does the sense of entitlement to cheap resources/services come from?

First rule of economics is that resources are scarce...

 

[bzb]

First rule of economics is that resources are scarce...

sometimes that scarcity is artificially created though.

opec intentionally cutting production to artificially raise prices...
drug companies manipulating supply or availability to manipulate prices...
drug companies making prices extremely high until the FDA allows generic versions...


i agree things don't necessarily need to be cheap, but they also don't need to be artificially inflated. there is a sweet spot where everyone can win, more or less. i can admit i don't know the analytics to determine what that is, but i'm sure the bean counters do. then the shrewd executives decide how high they can drive their margins from there.

 

[DEAD7]

sometimes that scarcity is artificially created though.

opec intentionally cutting production to artificially raise prices...
drug companies manipulating supply or availability to manipulate prices...
drug companies making prices extremely high until the FDA allows generic versions...


i agree things don't necessarily need to be cheap, but they also don't need to be artificially inflated. there is a sweet spot where everyone can win, more or less. i can admit i don't know the analytics to determine what that is, but i'm sure the bean counters do. then the shrewd executives decide how high they can drive their margins from there.

OPEC is a mess, not gonna argue that, but the idea that a finite resource like oil with an ever increasing demand globally should remain cheap is silly.

Drug companies overcharge during their market exclusivity in order to recoup research and development cost. It looks like they are a$$holes but if they cant make back the money they spent creating the drug why create it in the first place? for the good of everyone else?
You would hate to see how far that gets you.

I'm not saying they don't fleece, but we must realize many of these big drug manufactures operate in the red for years before ever turning a profit.


...and we should get rid of the FDA altogether.

 

[bzb]

OPEC is a mess, not gonna argue that, but the idea that a finite resource like oil with an ever increasing demand globally should remain cheap is silly.

Drug companies overcharge their market exclusivity in order to recoup research and development cost. It looks like they are @ssholes but if they cant make back the money they spent creating the drug why create it in the first place? for the good of everyone else?
You would hate to see how far that gets you.

I'm not saying they don't fleece, but we must realize many of these big drug manufactures operate in the red for years before ever turning a profit.


...and we should get rid of the FDA altogether.

how finite are oil reserves? i don't think anyone really knows, but i know the estimates are self serving.

breh...drug companies are not operating in the red. they're gwap'd up beyond belief. not to mention the gov subsidies and grants they get for a lot of their research. also consider that a good portion of their drugs are derivatives of other drugs they already developed.

i agree they need to make money, but imagine how much money they really make. let's not even discuss how many of the illnesses they engineer or make up...then turn around and sell us the "cure".

 

[DEAD7]

how finite are oil reserves? i don't think anyone really knows, but i know the estimates are self serving.

breh...drug companies are not operating in the red. they're gwap'd up beyond belief. not to mention the gov subsidies and grants they get for a lot of their research. also consider that a good portion of their drugs are derivatives of other drugs they already developed.

i agree they need to make money, but imagine how much money they really make. let's not even discuss how many of the illnesses they engineer or make up...then turn around and sell us the "cure".

They are finite is all that matters, and with an increasing demand, the price certainly isn't going down... think about it.


When you put all drug companies in a group and generalize them sure, that might be true, but if you look at them individually, most of them spend f*ck tons of money developing these life saving drugs, they need to recoup this cost, and turn a profit. All of which has to be done during the time they have the product under patent. When the patent ends, then you get the generic store brands at a much lower cost.

Now whether they engineer sicknesses is unclear. I haven't seen evidence of that sort of thing, but I haven't looked either...

 

[Prince.Skeletor]

Privatize the healthcare system, get govt. out of it!
See how simple that was?

Problem solved!

 

[Marvel]

A country built on exploitation, is exploiting the people

 

[DEAD7]

A country built on exploitation, is exploiting the people

and I wouldnt live anywhere else.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

Healthcare is not a right....if I can provide it, I'm charging top dollar.

You liberals disgust me

Actually, adequate healthcare has been declared a human right by the UN.

The ish is in their charter and yes, the United States voted on this....

Universal Declaration of Human Rights is what its called