What Can\’t Be Afforded

Until our system can figure out a way to handle this kind of thing, we will pay a big price.  Waiting for problems to become emergencies is a terribly expensive practice.  I\’m not sure I know exactly what needs to be done for this, but it\’s becoming an increasingly common problem.  Some say that a single-payor system will be the remedy, but they ignore the fact that a third-party payor system is what got us in this mess in the first place.  Things are far too expensive because patients don\’t have to pay for them.  That\’s why stress tests, which don\’t actually cost thousands of dollars to do, are so expensive.  That\’s why there is $100 hemorrhoid cream.  That\’s why medications are unreasonably expensive: someone else pays the bill.