On 03/02/2017 12:46 PM, #$%& wrote:
On Thu, 2 Mar 2017 00:43:48 -0600 "Shawn K. Quinn" <skquinn@rushpost.com> wrote:
The "free market" is what is wrong with "health care" in the US. For-profit hospitals have to make money, so they charge outrageous prices.
The guy selling hotdogs in the street has to make money too. He doesn't charge outrageous prices*. OOPS - quinn doesn't have a fucking clue. Who would have thought it?
$500+ for six ounces of saline solution is outrageous by any reasonable standard. Compared to that, even $10 for a six-inch hotdog in some places might not be too bad of a deal, though personally I'm unlikely to pay more than about $5-6 on an actual street corner. (Sidenote: On my last visit to James Coney Island here in Houston, two Texas style hot dogs and a large Coke came out to $10.79, which I don't consider outrageous in the least.) The difference, though, is you usually can compare prices of hot dog street vendors before deciding where to have your lunch. If you have a heart attack, there's no shopping around for the cheapest ER. This is where the "free market" fails; under a "free market" that heart attack could easily bankrupt you if you are a self-pay customer. I believe medical care is a human right. We've failed at that in the US because even though there exists a nominal public-funded health care system, it's vastly lower quality compared to what even moderately well-off people get. -- Shawn K. Quinn <skquinn@rushpost.com> http://www.rantroulette.com http://www.skqrecordquest.com