Health-care costs soar so high, it’s like a tax, economists say - The Washington Post

Every American family basically pays an $8,000 ‘poll tax’ under the U.S. health system, top economists say

Congress showers health-care industry with multibillion-dollar victory after wagging a finger at it for much of 2019

America’s sky-high health-care costs are so far above what people pay in other countries that they are the equivalent of a hefty tax, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton said. They are surprised Americans aren’t revolting against these hidden taxes.

“A few people are getting very rich at the expense of the rest of us,” Case said at a conference in San Diego on Saturday. The U.S. health-care system is “like a tribute to a foreign power, but we’re doing it to ourselves.”

Despite paying $8,000 more a year than anyone else, American families do not have better health outcomes, the economists argue. Life expectancy in the United States is lower than in Europe.

What would happen if a federal tax of %8000 for each family unit was collected via the IRS system or a separate tax?  The ACA attempted to tax individuals using a penalty administered by the IRS.  It did not work.

“We can brag we have the most expensive health care. We can also now brag that it delivers the worst health of any rich country,” Case said.

Case and Deaton, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, made the critical remarks about U.S. health care during a talk at the American Economic Association’s annual meeting, where thousands of economists gather to discuss the health of the U.S. economy and their latest research on what’s working and what’s not.

Deaton made a point that the waste in our health system (6%) is more than %50 greater than our military expenditure.

Most Americans want the freedom of choice, but at what price? Despite mergers, acquisitions we have a polyglot of health insurance (plans). The bottom line is profit motives by shareholders and other self-interest groups such as Pharma It is a nightmare of choices between private payors, medicare, medical, government-run systems such as the Indian Health Service, and the IHS receives reimbursement from for Indian Veterans, and the VA system. The options for safety net coverage vary from state to state and in some cases, it is administered by the county.  

The Affordable Care Act banned discrimination based on prior existing disease. It, however, directed safety net coverage up to the state or county jurisdiction. Despite these advances, many providers do not participate in safety-net programs due to poor reimbursements.  Private payors and hospitals subsidized the safety net increasing premiums for patients, and increasing charges at hospitals.

The well-intentioned motives of Americans to provide health coverage to all citizens and others within the confines of the   United States have been distorted by our system of waste, inefficiency, and lack of organization.




Health-care costs soar so high, it’s like a tax, economists say - The Washington Post: