Quote Originally Posted by Proletariat View Post
But the loser of the game is the self covered or out of pocket customer. They get the full 800$ charge for salt water in a plastic wrap and are charged 2 dollars each Tylenol administered when a bottle of hundreds costs under a few dollars at Costco. The problem of the insane pricing and the 'charge list' charade was examined in Time magazine a year back really well. It's what's wrong with healthcare and no one gets into it. Much more important than tort reform second maybe only to national health care or public option decision. That its just standard to not be told what any of the arbitrary or jacked up charges are being leveled at you by your healthcare provider is maddening. No one would accept buying software or food this way. So the freemarket works there in a way it can't in healthcare.

What I've learned as a therapist in the US army, some hospitals and some nursing centers for ten years. We're all being fleeced.
When I've insisted on paying out of pocket, or when the mother in law goes out of pocket to her dentist, there are different prices available. One can even negotiate a bit on them (the mother in law has few teeth left of her own, getting her cleanings done at the pediatric rate by arrangement).

On the other hand, prole', I do not doubt that many (most? all?) of us ARE being over-charged. As you have direct industry experience and I have not, your points carry weight with me. I've argued before that the current system is, in some ways, the proverbial camel (horse designed by committee) with too many in-built gaffes and shenanigans. It is neither a fee-for-service with insurance negotiated to suit each client situation NOR a government mandated and controlled system that is applied equally to all. It is a Frankenstein of both.

My thrust here has been to argue that the ACA is not going to get the job done in terms of making things better.