The Real Cost of Healthcare In The US

[CultureCitizen]

Well , unless someone can speak against the healthcare level provided by Maryland hospitals, it would be a good idea if the rest of the states follow a similar course of action.

That kind of hospital rate-setting used to be more common--much of the Northeast (including big states like New York and New Jersey) used to do it. But almost all of those systems were abandoned, de-regulated away or replaced with alternative strategies that have since failed. Today only Maryland (and, surprisingly, West Virginia) still does this.

But they've had a good run.

I don't know if there is anyway to really control healthcare costs. Government can regulate some prices and insurance companies can use their buying power to force lower contract prices with providers. However healthcare providers will always find a way to sell more diagnostic tests and procedures because they can almost always be justified.

That's true in a payment system that rewards volume instead of value, as the prevailing system does. Which is why there's such a big move now to start moving toward payment strategies that make more sense and reward the things shoppers and purchasers are actually looking for.

I'm astonished, baffled.
Why only Maryland ... it is clear that the "invisible hand" of free market is not working in the healthcare sector , basically because ... well there is not much of a free market, so why aren't the rest of the states adopting a similar legislation.

That the nation capable of putting men on the moon is not capable of properly addressing the ramping healthcare costs is simply unacceptable.

PS. Greenbeard thanks for the chart I think it makes very hard arguing against Maryland's policies.

 

[lynn63]

Healthcare costs is never going to be resolved unless we realize that health insurance companies objective is to keep our premiums as profit and pay out as little as possible by making us pay for our own healthcare disguised as deductibles and out of pocket expenses.

They are at the point of being totally worthless to the consumer and we would know that if we were allowed to get a copy of their fee schedule when we sign up with them. The only purpose they serve is they negotiated a lower fee for each healthcare service. Our government has done the same thing to them with Medicare and Medicaid contracts that the commercial insurance companies either accepts it or rejects it.
Since government contracts are a big part of their income these days, group health insurance companies cannot afford to reject it. Once upon a time when all of our manufacturing was here in the U.S., the insurance companies had a very large population of healthy people that they insured.

Today, they are insuring large populations under government insurance. In fact, United Healthcare has contracts in over 14 states that insure their state's Medicaid and Medicare Advantage population.