You accuse me of focusing too much on primary care. But there is no real competition for most specialties in most regions. My wife had a thyroid problem. In the town we lived in, 165,000 people second largest city in Oregon, there was one endocrinologist. There used to be two but one had just retired. A new one was probably going to come into town sometime but nothing yet. Our primary care physician recommended this dude anyway because she hot tubbed with him and his wife.
You have this total fantasy world where there are all these choices and if people would only take responsibility, if information were only available, the market would work its magic. Well, it ain't like that dude. Health care is not a commodity. There are not a lot of choices. Consumer education is good, but the subject matter is complex and the options bleak to none. This is one of those market areas where top-down regulation is really needed because the normal forces that lubricate the market are not there. I'm all in favor of decreasing the cost to educate and train new doctors (including malpractice reform), I'm in favor of educating consumers and encouraging competition. The marketplace needs more information and liquidity. But those things are going to happen later. They are an additional step, not a primary step. We need to reign in costs now and ensure coverage now. The other stuff needs to happen but it is not the primary solution. The market forces just aren't there. Judah On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 6:42 PM, Gruss Gott<[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dana wrote: >> And I still say people don't comparison shop for medical services. They pick >> a doctor based on location, specialties and insurance. > > Yeah, we've got 3 generations of consumers who, in general, haven't > done much shopping for medical services. Partly due to the fact that > you used to either be dead or alive, and partly due to the consumer > being abstracted from the money and services they're purchasing. > > So, IMO, we don't need to add yet another government agency in-between > you and your money and your doctor. > > That agency being, at a minimum, the Internal Revenue Service. > > Who's opposed to getting paid the wages they earn and spending them on > the plan they choose? > > If a "public option" is out there, fine, but then it's not really a > competitor if it doesn't have to play by the same rules as the other > plans. > > Kinda like saying Nikes made by 8 year old pacific islanders without > benefits made in factories with no safety equipment compete with a US > factory of adult employees operating under US law. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:299757 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
