> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Robert Seeberger > Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 11:32 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: Re: U.S. health care > > Ackkk!!! > That isn't the way one fairly compares such things Dan. My company > charges around $80/hour for my services, but I'm grossing $24/hour or > so. (My total package is around $45/hour).
OK, I can see why you would say that....although private draftsmen don't discount that much from temp agencies. Good engineers who are independent command $75-$125/hour, even if they only have a BA degree. I should have talked about the programming help at $100/hour from 7 years ago...when the programmers owned the company they worked for. The physician's $50/hour was the sum total of his package. He paid both sides of SS from it. It was contract labor. > So if your specialist friend "Takes" $50/hour, what does the draftsman > "Take"? >From the temp, probably little more than full time....but the draftsman on his own would probably take $40-$50/hour. In the case of the temp agency...probably about $30. But, in other cases, closer to $40. > I understand the point you are trying to make here and am not trying > to disparage your sincerity in any way. But apple and oranges > comparisons can distort perceptions and I'm wary of such in a > post-Enron enviroment. OK, but I'm familiar with what engineers make, and every engineer I know of commands more than $50/hour as contract labor. > As for the rest of what I wrote earlier, what I hoped would be taken > from what I said was that there are a *lot* of inefficiencies in the > system that could be eliminated. There are still significant inefficiencies in the system. From what I've heard from folks who worry about costs (like my friend who was chief administrator for a major hospital in NW Houston), _that's_ not where the waste is. Let's look at your suggestion, that hospitals share facilities. Wouldn't that mean that patients who need tests are likely to have to be transported in ambulances? That might be more efficient...but if it was _a lot_ more efficient, couldn't the hospitals save money by outsourcing that part of the work? That was the idea behind the negotiations insurance companies do with hospitals and clinics. They have a profit motive to keep costs down....because if they increase them...they risk losing customers as their rates go up. >From what I've heard from friends in various places in the industry is that the relatively higher costs are due to: 1) The amount of money spent on prolonging death. Intensive care can cost $10k-$20k/day. That adds up while/if the family argues over what to do. I was fortunate that my sister's a hospice nurse, so my dad died at the nursing home without heroic intervention. The US tends to concentrate on that aspect of health care than any other country. 2) Hospitals and physicians are very worried about lawsuits. I know my brother-in-law has been threatened by more than one patient who was refused drugs they didn't need (likely drug addicts). He lives in fear of losing everything. 3) The system we have is, indeed, an unholy mess. Nurses spend most of their time on documentation, not patient care. I don't think though, we can use Alexander's solution to a knotty problem....we're going to have to undo a lot of the knots. 4) The US pays for most of the innovation in health care for the world. Canada gets much cheaper drugs than the US for some of the same reasons that TV shows are sold cheaper there. The costs are already paid for with US sales, as well as a good profit. Canada sales are icing on the cake. It would certainly be the interest of the US to share these costs, but others will have to pay more for drugs as a result. The same is true with a number of other medical innovations over the last 20 years. R&D costs and initial profits can be made in the US market. The US is kinda like the fellow who needs the hottest electronics while the world is like the majority of consumers. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
