[knarf]

In my opinion, the crux of the problem is the charge by a hospital for a bandaid.

Give the doctor his due, but keep the bandaid down to a nickle.

Once the bandaids are down, the premiums can come down and the doctors don't lose any money.

'Course now, if the real time costs of medical care are not the issue in the first place (which it isn't ... not with lucifercare, anyway), all the logical bookkeeping in the world will be of no help.

[nascarnation]

The high costs for hospital stuff are to recover the amounts not paid by the Entitlement Army.
Uninsured med bills are paid off typically about 3 to 7 percent.

With the birth of another grandchild last month I spent a bit of time for 2 days at one of the local maternity hospitals.
My conclusion: not many future Republicans being born and I’m paying for a lot of the future Democrats.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“In my opinion, the crux of the problem is the charge by a hospital for a bandaid.”

I understand completely what your point is, but the bandaid costs are just cost shifting by the hospital to pay for a ton of other things. Some of those things, like hospital administrator salaries (some making well into the 7 figures), physical plant costs, etc., are under the control of the hospital and can be altered. Other things, however, like the cost of a CT scanner, or the cost to insure the hospital, etc., are out of the control of the hospital. The bottom line is that the solution is going to be a bit complex - but it is doable.