Who pays?
Okay, back to earth. Back a few weeks, I had an argument online with someone about the number, "45 million Americans without health care." semantics aside, I felt comfortable with the idea that while the U.S. has vast health care resources the cost of accessing such resources is really preventing many people from benefiting from the health care system of this country. Certainly, hospitals will treat anyone at the emergency room regardless of coverage, but preventive care suffers for those who do not have sufficient coverage which ultimately leads to more morbidity and higher cost. Just one more food for thought: "88 million Americans went without coverage for some period of time in the last two years."NPR tackled another issue on health care tonight. I missed most of it, but it was interesting. The problem essentially is that while insurance companies have the bargaining power to effectively limit the payment to hospital and doctors at or below the actual cost of treatment the uninsured patients usually pay more for the same treatments. This effectively means the patient population that can least afford the health care actually bears the financial burden for the rest. Yeah I know, a free market, supply and demand, negotiation power. But the idea that hospitals depend on the poor to recoup its loss somehow seems wrong to me. I know making every hospital non-profit won't work--financial incentive is the basis of everything, and the best motivation for innovation and progress. But what's the answer? I really should know more about this. Baby needs a new pair of shoes, and I gotta getta paida too.
posted by hedgehog @ 2:14 AM
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