patrick.net

The U.S. spends twice as much as the next-nearest expensive nation on medical care, yet has more people uninsured as a % of population, MUCH HIGHER doctor visit costs, medication, hospital charges, surgical costs, diagnostic costs, treatment costs EVERYTHING etc. costs (37% to 212% higher).

This is because medical care DOES NOT WORK THE WAY MOST INDUSTRIES DO, whereby TECHNOLOGY TYPICALLY DRIVES DOWN COSTS.

Regarding medical care, technology DRIVES UP COSTS, and in the case of medical innovation, whether diagnostic, pharmaceutical, surgical, immunotherapy, etc., Americans pay for breakthrough technologies that are then stolen, or at least, borrowed (at a much lower cost), y consumers in other nations.

Not only that, but it's certifiably true that a single-payer system whereby the government has negotiating power for 320 million Americans will give the government massive leverage it does not now have (Medicare is a fraction of 320 million, and Medicare still has massive leverage negotiating prices), is the only way to put downward pressure on out-of-control and oligopolostic pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, doctors, hospitals (i.e. Insurance companies, which now own most hospitals and doctors groups), etc.

There is a reason we have an abhorrent system of incredibly expensive, inefficient, and impossible-to-understand medical'care in the U.S., and it's because there's no massive single buyer as in France, Australia, Italy, Japan, etc., etc.

We have 37,000 FUCKING BILLING CODES FOR MEDICAL SERVICES RENDERED!!! IT'S FUCKING INSANE!!! THE INSANE HAVE DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED THE SYSTEM BECAUSE THEY WERE HIRED TO BY THE MEDICAL CARE COMPLEX BECAUSE IT CREATES INEFFICIENCIES AND PURE, INSANE PROFIT!!!

The pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers, doctors (particularly specialists), insurance companies, etc., lobby and balkanize and fragment and confuse the entire system, to enrich themselves in ways and by margins not deemed rational or in the public's interest in other advanced, developed, civilized, rational nations.

We're fucked in the U.S. six ways to Sunday because the health care lobby is giant, out-of-control, all-powerful, greedy fucking ass collusory entity that ensures monopoly-like profits and has no real cost-pressures not reasons to modernize and get efficient in the ways HAT OTHER INDUSTRIES ARE FORCED TO.