I'm pretty disgusted about this topic since two friends of mine have died of heart attacks recently. One died a couple weeks ago and the other died just last night (after suffering a stroke a month earlier). Both friends were in their 50's.
The health care system in the United States is an over-priced, immoral mess. It really isn't a health care system as much as it is an asset class for investors. This is essentially why most of the problems are left un-fixed. Too many people are making a fortune off the situation, and not just in the United States either. People from across the globe are in on this orgy of greed. Lobbyists put a whole lot of pressure on our "lawmakers" to keep the current system in place and keep that gravy train rolling. There are so many sacred cows being protected in this screwed up, greedy arrangement.
We do not have a "free market" health care system. It is a form of socialized medicine; it's just the world's most absurd form of socialized medicine. Free market businesses will advertise prices up front and compete directly against other businesses in the same field on the ratio of price versus quality of good and services delivered. Virtually nothing in our health care system operates like that. Hell, the same hospital or clinic may charge wildly different prices to two different patients for the same exact procedure. That's even if the same patients have the same exact kind of insurance coverage, income, etc. America's "free market" health care "businesses" get to take America's taxpayers for a ride AND they get to price gouge the patients. It's the world's most lucrative arrangement of double dipping.
Not that I would actually want this to happen, but if we eliminated all forms of government funding to America's health care system, making hospitals, clinics, drug companies and others in the health care food chain survive based only on what was in a patient's wallet, you would see a bunch of hospitals close immediately. You would see a lot of "for sale" signs on all those mansions built around the hospitals too. That's what would happen with a purely free market health care system.
I always have to laugh at the "rationing" comment people often make when defending America's current "free market" health care system. "Oh, you don't want rationing! That's what you get with socialized medicine!" News flash: we already have health care rationing in this country. It's called the "I can't afford to go to a ****ing doctor" and "I can't afford the ****king treatment" form of rationing.
Tens of millions of Americans don't see a doctor at all. They're just praying to never get ill, playing health care roulette. Medical bills are the #1 cause of personal bankruptcy. And thanks to newer laws passed by our elected officials, personal bankruptcy won't eliminate all forms of medical debt. Others who do want to see a doctor cannot do so because there is a big shortage of traditional, general practice family doctors. There's more money to be made being a specialist. And when someone finishes medical school with $250,000 or more in college debt there is pressure to go for those big bucks. So preventive care in America is a joke. There's more money to be made in reacting to disaster by delivering expensive treatments. Hospitals make more money from treating heart disease, cancer and diabetes rather than preventing those conditions.
One other thing I find very annoying is this strange belief the high prices and other problems only started after "Obamacare" was passed. What a crock! I often hear this misinformation from people working for large companies, like the huge Goodyear plant on the west side of my town. Those people don't have a clue about the struggles of small businesses like sign companies. Back in 1993 when I first started working at this sign company I had pretty good quality health insurance. Good coverage and a $500 deductible. Over the years the coverage quality declined. It seemed like we were changing plans or switching insurance companies every freaking year just to be able to have at least some coverage. By 2005 my deductible was $12000 and coverage wasn't for squat. At this point I was simply expecting the company to stop offering health insurance coverage completely. Our company's coverage through the ACA isn't all that great; certainly nothing like the coverage I had back in the early 1990's. But at least we're in a larger pool of other small businesses. My deductible is a more manageable $3000. If the courts overturn the ACA law, I'll probably just lose health insurance coverage completely. There's no way I can afford to buy health insurance coverage on an individual policy.
I'm not sure how to solve the health care problem in the US. 100% disclosure and transparency of pricing would be a good start though. Competing across state lines would also help.
If the current situation is allowed to run its course it will lead to really serious problems for this nation. It has already long been one of the biggest contributors to our national debt. For one thing, high health care prices are one factor contributing to a new "baby bust." The birth rates of America born women have dropped below the replacement rate level and are trending downward farther. If that takes hold over the long term (like it has in Japan) it will lead to a financial disaster of demographic/generational imbalance. Way too many old, retired people and far too few young workers contributing to the tax base to sustain the system. We're putting all the pieces in place to make that happen here.
