tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post6933526403994447821..comments2024-03-28T06:43:21.546-04:00Comments on the daily howler: Costs of health care: Don't ask, they won't tell!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-8407376686788055262011-09-28T18:03:46.653-04:002011-09-28T18:03:46.653-04:00You may be little wrong about the PBS news hour. T...You may be little wrong about the PBS news hour. They did air at least one special from their economics correspondent, Paul Solman, on the details of health care systems, including costs, in some other countries. The program I saw (part of) had Taiwan and Germany. I'm not sure if it was during the News Hour or right after it.<br /><br />Even so, you could think of this program as an exception that proves the rule.crfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10726414637021391906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-77099124245159581652011-09-28T17:59:19.640-04:002011-09-28T17:59:19.640-04:00Anyone who has visited a medical facility recently...Anyone who has visited a medical facility recently knows part of the answer: palatial, half empty buildings that are owned by the physicians themselves; even so-called nonprofit hospitals tearing down functional buildings that are replaced by medical Taj Mahals in the suburbs; your primary care physician who only worked 4 days a week retiring in his late 50's.<br />The root problem is that our medical education and qualification requirements week out anyone who actually wants to help people and rewards the profit motivated who are willing to be degraded for 8 years in expectation of a big payoff and an early retirement in the end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-12672315702502042062011-09-28T12:14:21.410-04:002011-09-28T12:14:21.410-04:00$15,073 per year for health insurance when the med...$15,073 per year for health insurance when the median family income is about $32,000<br /><br />What's wrong with this picture?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-24768076404409322632011-09-28T12:02:55.368-04:002011-09-28T12:02:55.368-04:00The entire "liberal world" didn't ex...The entire "liberal world" didn't exactly sit there and stare. You explained quite clearly the cost differentials between US health care and major European countries' health insurance programs. You even ran a chart that I recall sending to friends and posting to numerous sites. James Fallows, I believe, also focused on this with clarity, and broke things down. And of course Michael Moore made a very informative film about the sick, greedy US health care industry that was widely mocked, even though many of the criticisms of the movie did not hold up to scrutiny. I even watched Sanjay Gupta, I believe it was, attack the movie on a news program, but there was nothing but vagueness and minor quibbles in his critique. It was clear that the health insurance industry wanted to shut Moore up, but many people did see his informative film. So the entire liberal world wasn't silent, though as usual, the Ezra Kleins etc. just babbled and talked about percentages of GDP as if everyone in the world is a Washington/Versailles insider policy wonk and it's all just a game of jargon. In the real world, the horrendously high cost of health care was impacting and continues to affect the lives of millions of middle-class, working-class and penniless Americans.John Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.com