@golfingeagle quote Perhaps you don't realize this, but the "prices" for Medicare patients are set by the government, and the private insurers base their reimbursement on a percentage of the Medicare fee, usually 115%. So a display would be exactly the same for all physicians in the same specialty and geographic area. And most insurances have some type of co-pay, so your premise is already in place. Besides, physician services only account for 9% of the total health cost in the US.
So what drives "the outrageous" cost of healthcare?
1) technology--everyone wants "a test"
2) litigation---Out of a 3 trillion dollar/year healthcare bill, estimates show up to 800 billion is wasted on useless tests ordered defensively to avoid lawsuits
3) pharmaceutical costs---It now takes almost 1 billion and 6 years to bring a drug to market, only for the company to get sued at every opportunity. My suggestions is that all plaintiff's attorneys engaged in healthcare lawsuits have to receive THEIR treatment with technology and drugs from 100 years ago and see how they change their tune
4) long term care---Americans are living much longer and fewer and fewer families take care of their parents at home
The problem is that there is so much $$$$ involved that no one really wants to change it. Hilary was supposed to fix it in the first hundred days o
So, insurance was a mistake originally. If people had to pay out of pocket for these additional test, it would be a whole different story. Why people just cant accept that life ends is beyond me. We die! Accept it.
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