Here is my question. Why does it all cost so much? I had a small injury that required 8 stitches. The total cost for 15 minutes to put them in and 10 minutes a week later to take them out came to...$3000! My insurance covered $1700 leaving me to pay $1300 for a random act despite last time went to the doctor was 6 years past.

I see people at the top of hospitals and people providing equipment making great money, often some of the wealthiest people in small towns. The margins on many aspects of visits (even things you do not use) are staggering. Health care has managed to avoid market pressure factors where every other industry took a hit in 2008/2009 health care prices steadily climbed. We are being held hostage because if you don't do business with establishments (that don't compete in any way) you can die.

We pay twice in the US to what comparable other industrialized nations do. Yet the care provided is roughly the same to them. Yet, it seems that the question over and over is "how to pay for this" rather than "why does this cost so much"?

If anyone had insight I'd be genuinely curious.

Taxing someone for not buying a product.

Great idea.

One issue is... while some hopstials make money.  (Mostly the Universary attached Hospitals)

Most actually lose money.  Healthcare costs are a really complicated pain in the ass to sort out, and i could go through everything again, but honestly... noone cares.  It never leads to any discussion.

Short answer though?   Insurance, Doctors and Hospitals aren't the probelm... and hardly make any money in regards to the overll price...  Really it's more the high cost and length of Medical School, medicine patents (Pharmesuticals espeically) and a rush for everything to be cutting edge forcing hospitals to get the best equipment everywhere because patients won't go "discount" when their lives or health are at stake and government isn't forcing all hosptials to NOT upgrade like most countries do.  (Waiting until a few changse down the line, when the cost to benefit ratio makes more sense for the government balance sheet.)

The best thing we could do for medical costs?  Dial back IP laws a bit.

Something NOONE in Washington wants to do.

And yet something i think there could be a lot of grassroots willpower for: cheaper drugs, cheaper seeds for farmers, less internet piracy buffoonery.

It all comes back to intellectual property...

When almost all economic growth in developed countries comes from the creation, managment and manipulation of information, cutting back on legal protections for information property rights is a hard sell.

IP laws are for Intelectual Property, not information.

I'm not sure what kind of hair you're trying to split here. Yes, when people say "IP," the acronym translates literally to "intellectual property," but is "IP" anything other than information?

Your post just didnt make sense to me. I was trying to figure it out, and wasn't sure if you meant something else. It still doesnt make sense to me.

IP rights are legal protections put in place to secure the value of information, whether it's a copyrighted print article or a patented technology. With the livelihood of so many people depending on information retaining value, it's a hard political sell to make any move that might devalue information, such as decreasing patent terms.

Thank you for your response, I would be one of those "no ones" interested as I think to solve a problem you have to identify the nature and causes of the problem.

I feel similarily about the cost of tuitions at Universities.   Both of these aspects of our culture have witnessed massive increases in cost over past 30 years and seem like have to hit a breaking point over next 30 years if they continue on.