we have unions that see to it that we have exorbent medical insurance
Actualy the high cost of medical insurance is due to both the American people and the health care system.
It is because everyone is expected to pay for medical care with insurance, that makes health care so expensive. People with insurance want to use that insurance. They do not pay the direct bill themselves, thier insurance does. So they use it even when unnecessary. Millions do. That means for the health insurance business to be profitable they need to raise prices significantly.
Americans use more drugs than any other nation by far. Many of them unnecessary, or "magic pills" to fix something that excercise should. They pay for that through billing thier insurance.
Do Americans have the longest life expectancy by using far more drugs than any other modern nation as a result? No.
When people use medical services they do not haggle over various charges racked up by the hospital or doctor that is billing insurance. Because insurance is not thier money, it is the insurance companies' money. So insurance gets billed like crazy.
That means they pay out even more. The cost of insurance goes even higher, and people that then purchase it want to "use it" because who wants to buy something so expensive and never use it?
So it becomes a vicious cycle. More use, including a lot of unnecessary use results in higher rates for everyone. Higher rates means people with it don't want to waste it by not using it if they have it.
Since the health care system has built up making a living off that system they encourage people to seek even more medical care, more frequently.
So ironicly the private health care system is really more socialist than most realize, because the cost of insurance is relative to how often the population uses thier insurance. The more other people use thier insurance, even for things they wouldn't waste thier own money on, the higher the rates are for everyone. So everyone is encouraged to spend other peoples' money more to get a larger piece of the benefits pie they pay for.
Since it is not a normal supply and demand market, with prices marketed to the consumer the costs reflect that. The services are marketed to the consumer, and the prices are whatever the seller can get away with billing insurance. Insurance rather than shopping smarter like individuals would negotiates contracts, health plans, and raises rates while the bottom level costs remain similar.
The whole system results in being far less affordable to employers, and increases the cost per employee significantly.
So you see it once again has a lot to do with selfish, and even lazy (seek the magic pill rather than work for results) behavior.
