I am not going to comment on your business sense. But for this question, take insurance out of the picture. Gruss thinks we should all have medical savings accounts and shop around for our doctors/services. I am commenting that it does not seem to be possible to do so, at least not easily and using the internet. I mean, what is the cost of a CAT scan? Really? I don't see a way to find out short of calling the hospital and *they* are going to tell me that if i think I might need one I should come see a doctor right away and not worry about it.
On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 6:09 PM, Michael Dinowitz <mdino...@houseoffusion.com > wrote: > > Competition between insurance plans may work but for drugs? No way. > This is what I said earlier about a centralized system. There are not > a lot of drug companies out there and mostly a single company will > produce a single drug. Even generics are not widely produced. Add that > to the fact that many times your getting drugs, weather named or > generic, from a single distributor. And many plans ask you to use > their mail order drug plan, which means you're stuck with that single > distributor. Some automated warehouse in the middle of nowhere. > Competition woulds on the macro scale here but not on the micro. But > when it comes to business, I suck, so I can be totally wrong. > Actually, knowing my business sense, it's probably exactly the reverse > of what I say. :) > > On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 8:01 PM, Dana<dana.tier...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > I have recently been researching the costs of certain drugs and > procedures > > and I have found a flaw in the idea that we can reduce costs through > > competition, an additional flaw beyind the fact that people really aren't > > shopping for price when they do shop, they are shopping for compatibility > in > > outlook, perceived quality, and sometimes closest services if it's an > > emergency. > > > > But beyond that --- providers don't publish their prices. Sometimes it is > > possible, if you are diligent, to find out what Medicare thinks the > service > > is worth. But that is not what an individual would pay. Perhaps I am > missing > > something, but I don't think so. > > > > Let's take for example Nexium. Can anyone find a link for what this costs > at > > your local pharmacy? The official web page talks about "average co-pay." > > What about oh, a simple xray of an arm or a leg? A CAT scan of the chest? > > > > If I missed something simple because it was late and I was frustrated, > fine > > -- I will be glad of the clarification. If not, I think that this theory > is > > dead in the water. > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:301332 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
