A long article from Time, but a good one.


Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us
By Steven Brill
Feb. 20, 2013

http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/


Just a few quotes from the article...


The hospital’s hard-nosed approach pays off. Although it is officially a nonprofit unit of the University of Texas, MD Anderson has revenue that exceeds the cost of the world-class care it provides by so much that its operating profit for the fiscal year 2010, the most recent annual report it filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was $531 million. That’s a profit margin of 26% on revenue of $2.05 billion, an astounding result for such a service-intensive enterprise.1

The president of MD Anderson is paid like someone running a prosperous business. Ronald DePinho’s total compensation last year was $1,845,000. That does not count outside earnings derived from a much publicized waiver he received from the university that, according to the Houston Chronicle, allows him to maintain unspecified “financial ties with his three principal pharmaceutical companies.”

DePinho’s salary is nearly triple the $674,350 paid to William Powers Jr., the president of the entire University of Texas system, of which MD Anderson is a part. This pay structure is emblematic of American medical economics and is reflected on campuses across the U.S., where the president of a hospital or hospital system associated with a university — whether it’s Texas, Stanford, Duke or Yale — is invariably paid much more than the person in charge of the university.
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According to one of a series of exhaustive studies done by the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm, we spend more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia. We may be shocked at the $60 billion price tag for cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy. We spent almost that much last week on health care. We spend more every year on artificial knees and hips than what Hollywood collects at the box office. We spend two or three times that much on durable medical devices like canes and wheelchairs, in part because a heavily lobbied Congress forces Medicare to pay 25% to 75% more for this equipment than it would cost at Walmart.

Canucks have been pointing out this folly this all along.

Germans pointed it out too but of course Canada,Germany and all the other countries have socialist HC...

From the article:


When I asked MD Anderson to comment on the charges on Recchi’s bill, the cancer center released a written statement that said in part, “The issues related to health care finance are complex for patients, health care providers, payers and government entities alike … MD Anderson’s clinical billing and collection practices are similar to those of other major hospitals and academic medical centers.”

IOW, "if we told you the truth, you'd see the obscene profit and besides everyone else does it!"

I've told this story before, but it bears repeating. It is not only Medicare that gets charged less than what a patient pays, but all insurance. When my daughter needed some physio that wasn't covered under our free, state provided insurance for children, the rehab place said "We will only charge you what we would charge the insurance company". It was about 1/2 the original amount quoted to us.

Ya know, I've had this discussion with people over the last 12 years or so about UHC. I've heard the argument "Well you pay higher taxes!"

YES, we DO! But! Considering that my SIL pays around $10,000 a year for family coverage that only covers 80% after the deductable, I can guarantee you that we don't pay that much more in taxes. They also have co-payments on top of that.

The Provinces here set the price (that they will pay) for doctor visits, lab tests and such, not the doctors, labs and hospitals. That is how they keep the costs to the consumer down even if it is via taxes. Government control is a good thing when it comes to the health and well-being of the citizens. The USAians will never allow that. "Keep the Government out of our business!" is their hue and cry.......while they beg the government to control abortions, birth control, text books, media and other things that seem to insult their delicate sensibilities.

When the US can say with complete honesty that "Every man, woman and child can afford health care" then they can claim their "we have the best health care system in the world" badge. Right now they don't even have a chest to pin it to.