Posted on 08/30/2017 11:22:12 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
What good what it do you?
> That would hardly ever happen because insurance would cover it. <
Nice try (seriously), but no insurance company is going to pay $100,000 to set a broken arm. The doctor in my post #53 wants his $100,000. Insurance might cover $1000.
So he simply demands that the patient come up with the rest. He is applying the old supply and demand principle. Should he be allowed to do that?
Or should emergency situations trump free market principles?
(Oh, and I’ll add that the good doctor doesn’t care if he gets fired tomorrow. He’s off to Vegas to become a professional poker player.)
“I’ve been told all morning that this shows good business sense.”
That is not the right thing to be discussing.
In a disaster situation such as this, would you rather be able to buy water to drink when, or would you rather go thirsty?
If you do not mind going thirsty, then do not shop for water.
If, however, you want a drink of water and you are willing to pay for it, then it will be available for you to buy.
I’m sorry if I sound patronizing, but it really is that simple. The “anti-gouging” laws and penalties prolong shortage - (think Soviet bread lines) interfere with the normal marketplace, and it should not shock you to hear that this marketplace is driven by a profit motive.
If you accept the profit motive as the primary mechanism to eliminate shortage of anything, your outrage will disappear, because you have just figured out how the world works.
Now how in the world did you get this far in life, and be on this board for as long as you have and not understand this?
Not in a disaster...It’s not market flow...It’s getting in supplies into people that are hurting regardless of WTF the market says. Market flow has zip to do with it.
Price gouging is one thing, but many in Houston, who have lost their cars, are now afraid that if they cannot come to work, they will lose their jobs and be unemployed for a long time to come.
Then why sell it to me at all? Clearly, they should just give it to me! And give me enough to last because it might be a while before I can get some more. You know, it's pretty bad out there.
Too bad you need the same medicine because now they're all out. They gave it all to me.
Nice try (seriously), but no insurance company is going to pay $100,000 to set a broken arm. The doctor in my post #53 wants his $100,000. Insurance might cover $1000.
Nice try, but the insurance company negotiated and established a contract with the hospital -which includes prices- a long time ago. That’s how the insurance business works.
“NO. this is not the TIME to make economic sense”
In your world, it’s the time for everyone to be thirsty because nobody can find anyone willing to sell them water.
Economic sense applies during times of emergency - especially in times of emergency.
> What would Mr. Smith do if there was no hospital there? <
That question just delays the inevitable showdown. Unless he is a paramedic or something like that, Mr. Smith would have to drive and drive until he finds a hospital or doctor’s office.
Then my hypothetical in post #53 pops right back up again.
(All of this assumes that medical help for poor Mr. Smith is available somewhere. He is not stuck on a deserted island.)
“...if you sell water at a reasonable price during a hurricane”
What is “reasonable”?
If you don’t want to pay someone the asking price for what they are selling, but demand the product anyway aren’t you the one not being “reasonable”?
I can agree that it is bad optics. It would have been better if they broke up the cases and sold singles or limited purchases. I’m capable of having a bleeding heart occasionally and I would be tempted to give it away to people in need. But for the big picture, there are a few economic theories backed by the laws of mathematics that can’t be avoided. I am out of the area that was hit, but the grocery store HEB, big here in Texas, limited purchases of bread, water and a few other items so they could distribute more to the affected areas. I haven’t heard any complaints.
Ya know it’s really ironic, for many decades, this is the country that had no issues giving away hundreds of billions to other countries for whatever their freaking problems are/were.
Yet when people are beating like a drum, losing damn thing they ever had in America, it’s all about what the market dictates, what the market demands, and how much you can get....
Bull s**t
“Here in FLorida there are laws against ‘price gouging’ in the aftermath of a hurricane.......................”
As there are in many places. Think of these not as laws against “price gouging” as much as laws that make it not possible to get the things that you need, when you need them - perhaps even as a matter of life and death. That would describe laws like that better.
> Nice try, but the insurance company negotiated and established a contract with the hospital -which includes prices- a long time ago. That’s how the insurance business works. <
I think we might be caught in an endless loop here. Anyway...
As I hinted at earlier, the doctor doesn’t care about insurance contracts! He doesn’t care about getting fired! He simply wants his $100,000. Or he won’t set that broken arm.
Should that be legal?
“So when you’re in a disaster, you’ve lost it all and are in need life saving medication, you won’t mind paying triple or more, right?”
In your world, when you’re in a disaster situation, you’ve lost it all and are in need of life-saving medication, you will die, but at least you will have saved money on medicine.
>>Supply and Demand.... Econ 101<<
Cane, a rope and a whipping post....justice 101
Don’t be a jerk. Hope that doesn’t sound too condescending.
Please, be my guest: next time there is an unmitigated disaster in your area such as a 9/11 or a Sandy or a Harvey, please buy up all the necessary supplies, wildly inflate the prices, and go out and attempt to sell them. Then report back to us so we can hear how it all went down hunky-dory and how your customers agreed that “there was no such thing as price gouging” and that they were happy to buy a sip of water from you because it prevented breadlines...or something like that.
Don't be stupid. I wouldn't sell you your life saving medications to you during a disaster, because you'd be one of those who didn't have enough money. This is not complex. Next in line please!☺
As I hinted at earlier, the doctor doesn’t care about insurance contracts! He doesn’t care about getting fired! He simply wants his $100,000. Or he won’t set that broken arm.
Should that be legal?
It’s illegal because he would be violating a contract.
-PJ
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.