tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post5140835072885328649..comments2023-08-03T01:37:48.146-06:00Comments on Idaho from a Blue perspective: Why the free market doesn't work in health careUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post-90250147678096932562010-01-04T19:13:51.387-07:002010-01-04T19:13:51.387-07:00Once you understand exactly what the free market i...Once you understand exactly what the free market is, if you then oppose it, you are opposing the natural rights of others. In the example you gave, you gave up too easily. You could have refused to pay and taken them to court. There are two kinds of conflicts...criminal and civil. What they did might have been either type...I don't know, I'm not a lawyer. But I do know that America does not have a free market economy...we have a "mixed economy". And I also know that many people try to blame the "free market" for things that are actually not a result of markets. Rather they are the result of other things like crime, misunderstandings, etc.jscottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post-89616526728498040692009-11-18T09:36:39.142-07:002009-11-18T09:36:39.142-07:00Your predicament might show why there needs to be ...Your predicament might show why there needs to be some health care reform. Tort reform comes to my mind first as a place to fix this particular example. That would go a long way towards allowing simple "clinics" for emergencies like these that are not really life threatening. <br />But under a govt. system you'd have been lucky to be seen at all.Bob Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17345854893625826777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post-12248623254549902312009-11-07T10:27:45.748-07:002009-11-07T10:27:45.748-07:00I'm not sure I follow your logic.
By your own...I'm not sure I follow your logic.<br /><br />By your own description of the problem, you would like to have known, up front, what the costs would be, and to be in a position to negotiate. These are things you know and do in a free market. Yet, you conclude that this example shows us how stupid it is to look for free market solutions to health care.<br /><br />It sounds like not having a free market is the biggest part of your problem.<br /><br />When the government takes over health care, you won't know how much you're paying either. How much do you pay for police and fire protection each year? How much do you pay for the roads? You don't know. These goods are just "free". And you pay your taxes and assume you're not getting screwed...by the government.<br /><br />That's more naive than believing in a literal invisible hand.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09004007491439194124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post-53328242727303462022009-10-27T16:52:22.472-06:002009-10-27T16:52:22.472-06:00My experience, even if you ask "how much"...My experience, even if you ask "how much"...the nurse won't go there and the doctor will say he doesn't know, check with his business office...and they're not available and don't get back to you.<br />You'll know after you're billed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post-41800605458371900862009-10-18T15:45:22.378-06:002009-10-18T15:45:22.378-06:00I think that all the providers do the same thing. ...I think that all the providers do the same thing. They have to code the work so the insurance company, and in some cases Medicare, know what was done so they know they're paying the right amount. <br /><br />The system is deeply embedded. Pernicious is a good work for it. It's no way to ensure the productivity of the citzenry.alannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23319559.post-64982106248381217962009-10-17T13:49:29.968-06:002009-10-17T13:49:29.968-06:00That categorization and coding of medical procedur...That categorization and coding of medical procedures strikes me as something between counterproductive and pernicious. It's all about facilitating the <i>business</i> and not at all about health care.<br /><br />The example you've cited is just wrong; the category is too general, the "standardized" charge is too high for the nature of the procedure and for the amount of time it took. (If it were half a dozen stitches, say, that charge would make sense.)<br /><br />The insurance company has arranged to have the provider <b>charge too much</b> even as they've arranged to <b>not pay the bill</b>.<br /><br />What might be a small help is to learn (somehow!) if other Dox-in-Box are playing the same convenient charge-and-dodge responsibility, or if perhaps we can choose better ones.<br /><br />My choices have almost always been made by location; there's one just around the corner (on Cole, just S of Sockeye Grill). I've been happy with the transactions and care over a couple decades; a couple like this one you describe, and I'd definitely look elsewhere--and make sure they (and my readers) knew why.<br /><br />It's not <i>much</i> market power, but we have to use what we can.fortboisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07649653378335827071noreply@blogger.com