If anyone has ever been to see a magician, or seen a magician on the street, you know that the secret to their trade is what is called misdirection. They often distract your attention away with flourishing arm movements or hand gestures while they preform whatever slight of hand creates the illusion they are preforming. The same can be said of a lot of our governmental politics. Especially those that involve a lot of money. What people don't know, or maybe they choose to ignore, is that the health care industry spends more in lobbying than the oil and defense industries combined. . What this means to you and me, is that the health care industry is spending BIG money making you and me believe that the problem is not, "Why does it cost so much?" We're to believe that the problem is, "Who is going to pay for it?" Which is backwards thinking no matter how you look at it. The medical and pharmaceutical industries have been jacking up their prices for over a century and nobody says anything, because they have created the illusion that it's not their duty to lower the prices. It's our duty to find some way to pay for it. Here are just two simple examples of what I mean. I used 2 different hospital chargemasters, as well as two different retailers, to get a mild comparison.
Neoprene Knee Brace
- Walgreens $21.99
- Walmart $9.08
- Kaiser Hospital Anaheim, CA $140.00
- St. Mary's San Francisco, CA $72.00
Medical Spica Thumb Brace and Support
- Walgreens $21.99
- Walmart $28.29
- Kaiser Hospital Anaheim, CA $82.00
- St. Mary's San Francisco, CA $72.00
I could go on all day about the disparity between products, medications, etc..however, I do believe the point has been made. Well, why do hospitals charge so much, you might ask. The answer is simple. Healthcare undertook one very serious change in the last couple centuries. Before the creation of insurance, healthcare was a simple transaction. Doctors, and medical professionals would charge you whatever it cost them, plus a bit of a mark-up, to cover their own expenses. It was a business afterall, and any business is entitled to profit, is it not? Then, in 1847, The Massachusets Health Insurance Company of Boston becomes the first to offer 'Sickness Insurance'. IT was only a matter of time before Health Insurance became a huge industry. As with any industry, it was looking to cut costs. So, they went to the Doctors and asked if they could get a discount. Unfortunately, doctors did not mark up enough to provide anyone with any real kind of discount. So, then came the chargemasters. Chargemasters are a list of highly inflated, arbitrary prices a hospital decides to charge for whatever service, or equipment they use. There is no standard, no regulation, no way, other than the hospital's own discretion to set these prices.
What costs you one price at one hospital, can cost you as much as twice as much at another. However, when in an emergency situation, you're not likely to have the luxury to "shop around" for the best price. Since their prices are grossly over-inflated, they can now provide the Health Insurance companies with the discounts they desired. Bad news is, however, if you do not have insurance, you get stuck with the full amount of that cost. Even if you do have health insurance, you still pay, in elevated premiums, so the Health Insurance company can cover their "discounted" price. All of this outrageous pricing and overcharging is protected by, as I mentioned earlier on, by the ridiculously huge amounts in lobbying spent by the Healthcare Industry.
Here in America, we spend more on tests, visits, medications, etc...yet, aren't any healthier. The reason we spend so much has nothing to do with the quality. It has to do with the fact that no one dares look at the REAL problem with our healthcare system.
California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Developement: Chargemasters
Walgreens Neoprene Knee Brace
Walgreens Spica Thumb Brace
Walmart Neoprene Knee Brace
Walmart Thumb Splint
Time Magazine: Bitter Pill