NO NO NO...it was a healthcare cost disaster BEFORE Obamacare was passed. Healthcare costs were inflating at double the rate of inflation. Obamacare did nothing to improve that and only made it worse.
A genuine healthcare reform law is direly needed.
Take a look at my profile page to view my idea on how to really reduce healthcare costs.
Healthcare costs aren’t the problem...non-payers are....insurance premium costs are rising due to govt. “pool” intervention (non-payers & mandates), but I see $499. MRI’s, $100. Dr. office visits, $400. payment to an ortho surgeon for 4+ hours of hip replacement surgery (Medicare reimbursement)(that is less than my mechanic or a lawyer makes). Hospitals are operating on a 0.52% profit margin (less than grocery stores). And health insurance is making about 4.5% profit.
Doctors are doing pretty well at about 12.8% margin, but still less than lawyers.
My local children’s hospital is currently 78% “no-pay”/Medicaid patients...then they get reimbursed 15-20% by Medicaid...so if they want to recoup their MRI cost (about $499.) they must charge about $3200. for it. That is the cost driver.
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/margin.html
“....it was a healthcare cost disaster BEFORE Obamacare was passed.”
Yes, and you can review healthcare history back to 1965, and specifically Ted Kennedy, and the Democrats for the reason our system of healthcare is all messed up today.
When you have 1 doctor for every thousand patients, one PA for every 450 patients and one person employed in the medical provider field for every 30 patients, you’ll never be able to provide anything other than timely bills.
18% of the entire economic output of the US is spent on heathcare. Compare that to all housing (13%) or federal non healthcare spending ( including education, entitlements and military) of 17%.
Dialing it back to the worldwide average of 10% would slash the US economy more than the subprime market crash and the dot com crash combined.
This is the real challenge and truly shows the genius of a limited government. When so many people depend on the bloated Healthcare system both as clients and for employment it will do only one thing, continue to grow until we return to constitutional limitations.