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a problem though, just get in line tomorrow a tad earlier! thinking is close to delusional thinking (it is more akin to reactional
Let’s take a look at cancer survival rates in the USA vs. England. panic than it is reason and logic).
The USA usually ranks first in the survival rate of cancer. Prostate First of all, for the last 15 to 20 years, most publicly traded in-
cancer as an example has a 97 percent chance of the five-year sur- surance companies earned in net profit around 3 to 5 percent!
vival rate in the USA compared to England which is about 83 per- Hardly what I would characterize as greedy. And the administrative
cent. Part of the difference is due to the inherent waiting lines that costs are relatively low as well when compared to other industries.
socialistic healthcare inevitability creates. What is the advantage of The administrative costs including profit are highly dependent upon
having free care if you can’t access it when you need it? The costs the size and thus if they are large, it is usually less than 15 percent,
of healthcare are one issue; however, quick access to quality and if they are small, it is 20 to 25 percent as a percentage of rev-
providers is more important, particularly if you desire early detection, enue. And the administrative cost for the insurance companies
treatment, and exceptional outcomes. And as I stated in previous ar- would be less if they did not have to comply with the plethora of
ticles, one of the impacts of socialism is that it always creates scarcity, government regulatory mandates. Shifting the administrative cost
reduces competition, stifles innovation, and creates waiting lines! I functions, such as adjudicating claims on behalf of the doctors and
certainly understand, that when people think their healthcare will be hospitals will not go away if it is consolidated in one monopolistic
cheaper if it is government run, can be an appealing proposition; source. And the Federal Government is notorious for adding layers
however, the reality throughout the world tells a very different story and layers of administrative cost to any agency. Can you name an
in those single-payer systems. agency that has had a reduction in administrative costs? Probably
not; which is one reason why the USA is about $20 trillion in debt!
Seldom do we consider WHY healthcare is expensive here in the
USA. And unfortunately, in today’s world, too many people cannot One reason that healthcare costs continue to in-
reason and simply blame one aspect of a healthcare delivery system crease is directly due to government mandates! The
as to the woes of the entire system. Take insurance companies as
an example; many blame the increasing healthcare cost solely on government mandates that insurance compa-
the alleged greedy insurance companies. And those that lack nies offer “minimum essential benefits.”
an understanding of the healthcare delivery system feel These benefits are neither minimum nor
that if we eliminate the private insurance companies essential. They are however costly.
and embrace a single government payer system, And every time
then the cost to consumers would be dra-
matically decreased. This line of
26 San Antonio Medicine • December 2017
