• BobaFuttbucker
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    2 months ago

    That’s your opinion, I think this is a perfectly valid representation of how a US citizen purchases a healthcare plan and their feelings on that process and their coverage.

    We can agree to disagree here.

    Now can you show me a citation that shows the inverse?

    • Neuromancer@lemm.eeOPM
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      2 months ago

      It isn’t my job to prove your claim. The cite doesn’t say what you claim. I have yet to see a poll to say profit is the reason people are unhappy with the system. Cost is an issue but that isn’t tied just around profit. Our staff is payed much higher than the rest of the world and we are more litigious as well.

      • BobaFuttbucker
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        2 months ago

        I’m not asking you to prove my claim. I’m asking you to show me contrary evidence. I provided some and you didn’t like it, so show me what good evidence looks like.

        By “staff” you mean executives, right? How else do they get the money for their salary and bonuses?

        https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/guides/which-health-insurance-ceos-get-the-highest-pay-467513.aspx#:~:text=Joseph Zubretsky%2C Molina Healthcare&text=Zubretsky tops the list%2C receiving,compensation%2C reaching almost %2415 million.

        How does a healthcare company CEO make over $20M a year when they’re not exploiting their customers by artificially inflating costs? Couldn’t that $20M have helped subsidize the cost of their care provided instead?

        Pharmaceutical companies do the same thing. When their motivation is profit it becomes their focus. Their product is secondary. That’s a problem when it’s healthcare or education, which are both qualitative things that benefit society to have.

        • Neuromancer@lemm.eeOPM
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          2 months ago

          Staff. Doctors. Nurses. Respiratory therapist. Staff. Not management. Our staff makes considerably more than anyone else in the world

          • BobaFuttbucker
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            2 months ago

            Hospital staff costs alone are not what drives pharma or health insurance prices up, and has nothing to do with how much the executives of those companies make.

            A hospital CEO makes on average about $180k in the US, less than a software developer.

            Other countries without as exploitative of a healthcare system are also able to staff their hospitals and provide healthcare at a lower cost as well, so again your argument doesn’t actually account for the exorbitantly high prices we pay in the US.

            • Neuromancer@lemm.eeOPM
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              2 months ago

              Hospital staff costs alone are not what drives pharma or health insurance prices up

              Yes it does. If the staff cost more; they have to charge more to even break even. That’s simple logic.

              You think wages don’t drive cost of healthcare ?

              • BobaFuttbucker
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                2 months ago

                https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/compensation-issues/11-highest-paid-ceos-in-healthcare.html

                Look at all the profits made in the healthcare industry. That can only be done by making so much money you have at least this much left after paying your staff and expenses.

                Hell of a lot more than simply “breaking even”.

                Then you’ve got what the companies themselves make and it’s disgustingly more:

                https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2024/01/12/unitedhealth-group-profits-hit-23-billion-in-2023/?sh=212f959967ad

                This is why healthcare is so expensive and ineffective in the US. Because the corporations that own everything in the industry set the prices and rake in literally Billions a year from citizens who often can’t afford it or go into massive debt.

                • Neuromancer@lemm.eeOPM
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                  2 months ago

                  Why are so focused on ceo pay when it’s a drop in the bucket. The first cite has nothing to do with profits.

                  2nd cite I pay walled.

                  • BobaFuttbucker
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                    2 months ago

                    I focused on CEO pay to refute your argument that IS Healthcare is so overpriced because of staffing.

                    If that were true the CEO wouldn’t be making roughly 200 times the salary of their average employee and could easily mitigate the problem with less bonus/stock options (which are typically the bulk of their compensation).

                    Not sure why you’re having issues with the second article. I can get to it just fine with an adblocker and reader mode but you can still get the code argument from the URL and title themselves:

                    UnitedHealth Group reported $22 billion in 2023 profits including $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter as its portfolio of health insurance and provider services grew by double-digit percentages.