Lengthy article on Time.com about why medical costs are so high – Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us, by Steven Brill.
If the question is, why do health care costs continue to be so high, the short answer appears to be: because those meeting the demand can get away with very large markups. The exception to this answer appears to be Medicare and Medicaid, though there are some limitations in that area as well.
2 replies on “Why Are Medical Costs So High?”
Medical providers are the world’s largest group of legal criminals in the world. And more often not, you get better service at McDonald’s than you do at a doctor’s office.
On the whole I’ve been very happy with my local doctor here in Utah. We had our last two kids at the local hospital just a few miles down the road, both deliveries went smoothly. We’ve made various trips to the local ER and urgent care offices over the years as well.
At least for my local experiences I’m happy with the services, though we haven’t anything that I’d consider traumatic compared to what that article reviewed. So my concern right now is less with the current experience of health care and more with the costs, and potential costs if something really major did happen in our family.
I have a 40 year old friend who has a wife and 5 kids. Late last year he was diagnosed with Leukemia. For him and his family, being financially ruined by medical costs is their reality right now.