Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

JohnnyRoyale · 12-08-2004, 10:40 AM

Actually, Best Buy CAN charge you 500 for a 1000 dollar TV, and they do. Here's how it works:

A large retailer (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Your insurance company) sits down with the providers of the goods they re-sell (TV Makers, or a hospital) and says: "For procedure X (or, for That TV), we're going to pay Y amount of dollars"). Every insurance company, HMP, PPO, etc. does this. Even Medicare tries to do this,althought they have the added burden of Congress stepping all over them when they try too hard (think: Drug Discount Card).

Now, the reason the costs are so high originally is a number of factors: One, insurance. All that malpractice, liability coverage, etc, etc...that costs. A lot. So, the hospital has to cover that. And to cover it, they pass the cost onto the consumer...you. If they can't, well, then they get rid of the radiology department, or they cover the liability by outsourcing the job to India, like Mass General in Boston did. Second, there's administrative costs associated with everything. You know, what they call "overhead". To get an asprin to you, they have to have a purchasing department to buy it, an accounting department to pay for it, a pharmacy to dispense the pill, storage to store the bottle the pill is in, a nursing or orderly staff to get that asprin to you, a nurse to give it to you, and a doctor to prescribe it...which is why it costs $25 per pill. And don't forget, all hostpital workers have unions. Including the doctors. They call their union the AMA, but it's the same deal.

But, in the long run, I wouldn't worry about it too much, since all medicine in America will be socialized (a la Canada and Britian) within 20 years...between the insurance companies, medicare and medicaid, and the aging population's need for more and more medical care, the entire operation will be nationalized and run with the same grace and efficiency as the airline industry.

12-08-2004, 10:40 AM	#2 (permalink)
JohnnyRoyale Psycho Location: Boston, MAss., USA	Actually, Best Buy CAN charge you 500 for a 1000 dollar TV, and they do. Here's how it works: A large retailer (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Your insurance company) sits down with the providers of the goods they re-sell (TV Makers, or a hospital) and says: "For procedure X (or, for That TV), we're going to pay Y amount of dollars"). Every insurance company, HMP, PPO, etc. does this. Even Medicare tries to do this,althought they have the added burden of Congress stepping all over them when they try too hard (think: Drug Discount Card). Now, the reason the costs are so high originally is a number of factors: One, insurance. All that malpractice, liability coverage, etc, etc...that costs. A lot. So, the hospital has to cover that. And to cover it, they pass the cost onto the consumer...you. If they can't, well, then they get rid of the radiology department, or they cover the liability by outsourcing the job to India, like Mass General in Boston did. Second, there's administrative costs associated with everything. You know, what they call "overhead". To get an asprin to you, they have to have a purchasing department to buy it, an accounting department to pay for it, a pharmacy to dispense the pill, storage to store the bottle the pill is in, a nursing or orderly staff to get that asprin to you, a nurse to give it to you, and a doctor to prescribe it...which is why it costs $25 per pill. And don't forget, all hostpital workers have unions. Including the doctors. They call their union the AMA, but it's the same deal. But, in the long run, I wouldn't worry about it too much, since all medicine in America will be socialized (a la Canada and Britian) within 20 years...between the insurance companies, medicare and medicaid, and the aging population's need for more and more medical care, the entire operation will be nationalized and run with the same grace and efficiency as the airline industry. __________________ I'm gonna be rich and famous, as soon I invent a device that lets you stab people in the face over the internet.