Quote:
Originally Posted by RickeyD
I do think there is a very real generational expectation whereby the first baby boomers and their predecessors are more inclined to believe that the "system" is paternalistic. This is how they were raised and any deviation from their expectations is apparent in the many threads and postings on here. It's a shame because it would be nice if what they believed were really true. Thing is, it never was true.
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I generally agree, except I think there was a time, more than 50 years ago, when it was true. There was no health insurance, no medicare or Medicaid, no government intervention, almost no malpractice. "Marcus Welby" would take a dozen eggs from a farmer if they could not pay the fee for an office visit, which by the way was about $3.
Why have healthcare costs skyrocketed?
1) high cost of advanced technology
2) high cost of gov't and ins. co. paperwork
3) the mere presence of third party payers
4) the cost of malpractice and defensive medical practice
5) enormous waste and fraud in gov't programs
6) the advent of specialists, sub-specialists and sub-sub-specialists
According to the AMA, just the cost of having employees to deal with insurance denials and prior approvals costs each clinician $55/hour. The cost of defensive practice is estimated between $250-$750 BILLION/year. Private insurers will administer a plan for about 12-13%, government programs cost 31% (DO NOT believe the hype of 2-3%, it does not include all the costs that are born by government agencies other than CMS---office space, premium collection, computer expense, postage, savings from operating across state lines, etc)
Unfortunately, medicine is now so complicated that there is no way to go back to the days of "Marcus Welby" , but perhaps there is a happy medium somewhere.