Interesting letter to Romney

[Mursilis]

I would have thought the better comparison is prostitution.

It also works just as well.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Lets play word games.

You are an idiot. Your turn.

Ah, bravo, astounded by your retort.

 

[xj0hnx]

You and I are talking about the same thing. Health care is far too expensive. Never in my life have I been billed at a rate of $5,000 an HOUR except for in healthcare. Regular doctor's visits are billed at $600 an hour, and that's on the low side (a worthless 10 minute doctor's visit was billed at $150). What I paid was less, of course, due to having insurance, but jeez, as of now insurance is the ONLY way to pay for healthcare because no one else can afford it otherwise.

Imagine if insurance was the only option to get your car serviced because an oil change costs $300 and mechanics charge $2000 an hour.

The cost of healthcare and the lack of transparency and difficulty in finding out these costs beforehand really need to be fixed. I envision people being able to go to a price comparison website and shop for healthcare based on publicly advertised prices between providers that regular consumers have rated.

I totally agree with you that the cost of care is outrageous, so why is everyone so fixated on insurance when the cost of the care is what is the problem?

 

[soulcougher73]

What to do with the large number of people who will find it cheaper to pay fines (if any are enforceable) versus waiting till you come down with a serious illness before signing up for a top tier insurance plan.

These are humans and they will find a way to work the system to their benefit.

And that is why you take it out of their hands with UHC

 

[CycloWizard]

You and I are talking about the same thing. Health care is far too expensive. Never in my life have I been billed at a rate of $5,000 an HOUR except for in healthcare. Regular doctor's visits are billed at $600 an hour, and that's on the low side (a worthless 10 minute doctor's visit was billed at $150). What I paid was less, of course, due to having insurance, but jeez, as of now insurance is the ONLY way to pay for healthcare because no one else can afford it otherwise.

Imagine if insurance was the only option to get your car serviced because an oil change costs $300 and mechanics charge $2000 an hour.

The cost of healthcare and the lack of transparency and difficulty in finding out these costs beforehand really need to be fixed. I envision people being able to go to a price comparison website and shop for healthcare based on publicly advertised prices between providers that regular consumers have rated.

The cost of healthcare will always be high because demand for healthcare will always be high as the alternative to using healthcare is generally death (i.e. substitution is out of the question). Healthcare generally improves by adding complexity and complexity costs money. Thus, healthcare costs will always increase as long as quality of care increases. This has the add-on effect of prolonging patient lifespans such that they will need even more healthcare. The car maintenance analogy fails because I can teach you to change oil in ten minutes, but I can't teach you to reconstruct a spinal cord in ten years. Furthermore, an auto insurance company need not incentivize preventative maintenance because you are not more likely to cause an accident if you fail to change your oil (i.e. the loss of the health of your car is your problem); in healthcare, if you fail to do preventative maintenance, then they will be on the hook.

 

[shortylickens]

I'd think homework would be more important than posting what you've posted here. Thanks anyway.

It is. I spend 8 hours a day on school stuff, and one hour on Anandtech.

 

[Smoblikat]

Regardless, he makes good points. It's the points that matter, not the age.

Religion should not have anything to do with policy.
Denying coverage for pre-existing conditions is draconian.
Women (and anyone, for that matter) should be allowed to control their own bodies.

Im all for that, just not at the expense of the taxpayer like the messiah wants.