| "What wrong with a for-profit system? There should be MORE profit, not less.
High profits attract entrepreneurs to compete for customers by offering lower prices and innovating - consumers benefit." That ideal doesn't exist, and probably can't, in the real world. In most situations, the easiest/fastest/cheapest way to 'profit' is by getting more customers' money, and spending less of it. When 'spending less' means customers get less care (the easiest way to spend less) then people will suffer. The 'innovations' and such... well... I've no doubt some would/will happen, but how much 'innovation' can there be in insurance? We saw a lot of 'innovation' in the financial insurance markets (CDOs and such) and that wasn't a resounding success. The bigger problem with your premise assumes that people are smart with respect to choosing between multiple private insurers each offering 'innovations' of their own. Most people wouldn't be on day 1 switching away from their current system, and it's not something that you can easily learn from or experiment with. With consumer items, I can buy them, try them, and recommend them to my friends if I like them or not. It's a lot harder to try out various insurance programs for multiple surgeries to see how each one fares in your particular situation. Hospitals are often losing money because they're covering the cost of procedures for people who can't pay. Long and short, hospitals and medical entities exist to help people with their most basic needs - health and life. People generally go to hospitals when they are sick or dying. Seeing 'for profit' companies making a profit from misery, illness, sickness and death isn't something that is going to sit well with most people. |
Yes it does, and it's a reality throughout the economy not just an ideal.
> Hospitals are often losing money because they're covering the cost of procedures for people who can't pay.
No, that's not true. The costs of unpaid bills is very low and not a major cost.
> When 'spending less' means customers get less care
That's not the case. Look at the horrible reputation of the VAs and government medical facilities vs. privately run.
My grandfather had free VA due to his military service, but bought additional medical insurance so he could go to a non-VA hospital instead-- the reputation of VA hospitals has been horrible.
Also there are many top-quality for-profit hospitals, some of the most respected in my area are for-profit hospitals. But also many doctors in practice for themselves provide excellent services as a for-profit practice.
> Long and short, hospitals and medical entities exist to help people with their most basic needs
That's why profitability is important, because it drives down costs and encourages innovation, as opposed to lack of profitability.
> Seeing 'for profit' companies making a profit from misery, illness, sickness and death isn't something that is going to sit well with most people.
Profitable companies help people every day, they make a profit providing a valuable service which is complex and requires a lot of investment and expertise.
They provide advanced medical services and pharmaceuticals and they save millions of people's lives. If you claim otherwise then you are simply clueless.
Profit is what lowers costs and drives innovation and investment. I don't know why you would be on an entrepreneur forum if you think profit is bad-- without profit there would be no entrepreneurship.