Bad Medicine Made Worse By Government
Carolinas HealthCare tells state regulators they want to expand. Here we have another regulated business having to ask the state for permission to add capacity. That wouldn’t be so bad except regulation, which is always touted as serving the people, has only served the medical business, not the public.
Using the information given in their request, it is a simple matter to overestimate the costs of a hospital room and thus to overestimate what their maximum charges should be. Then, comparing those to what they really charge, one can see the consumer is getting raped while the medical business is getting rich.
The ‘beds’ CHS wants to add cost approximately $200,000 each. Using a 20-year note at 5.5%, this turns out to cost $321 per week. If one then assumes maintenance at an equal amount, the cost is now $642 per week. Assume a full-time nurse, 24/7, at $60,000 per year. It would take four to cover the 168 hours per week, so add $4,846; if you triple that, make it three people, full-time, per bed, it would cost $14,538 per week. There are obviously not three people per bed full time, so we should have all the expenses covered. The total comes to $15,285 per week. Things should be so cheap. People could afford the hospital then.
A month ago I had occasion to spend about seven hours in a hospital bed. The hospital charged me $13,000 to start. Then they cut it in half because I had insurance. So call it $6,500 for six hours. Call it $6,500 per day. On a five-day week that is $32,500, more than twice what full-time, around-the-clock nursing would cost. As an aside, the doctor I saw worked about 45 minutes and charged me $800. Assuming he worked two hours a day, four days a week, that’s $320,000 per year – not a bad lick. (OWS – how about occupy Elizabeth Avenue)
I argued with Blue Cross. They don’t care what it costs. They pass it on in premiums. The accounting office at the hospital was indifferent to requests to justify their charges. Obviously they don’t care if you die, so long as they collect the exorbitant premium. We all know going in the hospital is dangerous to your life.
The point is there is not enough competition to bring prices down. ObamaCare was not about controlling costs; it was about spreading income for the insurance companies. The hospitals tell us they provide a lot of free care. No, they don’t. They charge their paying customers too much. If you went to the grocery store and bought your groceries, a necessity, and paid twice what they were worth so the next customer could get them for free, would you like that? No!? What about house or rent payments? Would you like to pay too much so your neighbor didn’t have to pay? No!? These are necessities.
Medical care is not even as important in our lives as food and shelter, yet we let the purveyors of such work, in tandem with government to enhance their ability to overcharge, make themselves rich at others expense. Such is the history of modern medicine. In 1965, Carroll Quigley wrote “Tragedy and Hope, A History of the World in Our Time.” One of its passages sounds an indictment of the healthcare system:
“As a consequence, the medical profession in the United States…..became one of the largest groups of hardheaded petty-bourgeois hustlers in the United States, and their professional association became the most ruthlessly materialistic lobbying association of any professional group.”
Nothing has changed since 1965, except to get worse. In addition government exacerbates the situation by limiting competition, then telling us how sorry they are that it costs so much. They’re not sorry; government is much of the problem. They do it on purpose. As in any situation, the more government we have, the worse the service or product. The medical industry is just another example.
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=7638
