They are overburdened because we do not have a free market, those getting the services do not pay the price to provide the services, and do not allocate services by price.
Ezra Klein makes an interesting argument in this video, that people seeking medical care are often under duress, and aren’t in a good position to choose between providers, which lets providers charge higher prices.
I wonder if it would make sense to legally differentiate between “duress care” and “non-duress care”.
Has any health economist done a comparison between purely elective procedures like plastic surgery vs emergency procedures? I would imagine that plastic surgery (generally not covered by insurance) experiences less effect from government involvement in healthcare—so, when we look at the world of plastic surgery, does it look like a medical utopia? Is plastic surgery part of the general trend of the US having more expensive medical procedures than other countries? This article suggests that high US healthcare costs are a result of consolidation of hospitals & insurance companies, reducing competition. So maybe not?
Ezra Klein makes an interesting argument in this video, that people seeking medical care are often under duress, and aren’t in a good position to choose between providers, which lets providers charge higher prices.
I wonder if it would make sense to legally differentiate between “duress care” and “non-duress care”.
Has any health economist done a comparison between purely elective procedures like plastic surgery vs emergency procedures? I would imagine that plastic surgery (generally not covered by insurance) experiences less effect from government involvement in healthcare—so, when we look at the world of plastic surgery, does it look like a medical utopia? Is plastic surgery part of the general trend of the US having more expensive medical procedures than other countries? This article suggests that high US healthcare costs are a result of consolidation of hospitals & insurance companies, reducing competition. So maybe not?