We have Allowed More Money to be Spread on the Table

  One of the principles of human nature is that if you leave money on the table, someone will sweep it away.
   I suppose you could say it is a principle of economics, as well.
   And, it is a principle we should consider as we lament the staggering cost of health care these days. I understand 17 percent of our GNP goes to the health-care industry, easily the highest rate in the world.
   I would suggest, how much the industry takes from us is largely dictated by how much we place on the table for them to take. It is a simply a principle of economics that a person will make as large of a profit as he can. He will take as much money from you as you let him get away with.
   So, if we would wonder how to lower our health-care costs, we should consider it is as simple as not placing so much of our money on the table for the health-care industry to take. If we leave it open for them to get at our money, they will.
   What are the three things driving up the price of health care -- the three ways the industry has of getting more money out of us than it was able to get out of us a couple hundred years ago?
    Credit, insurance and, liens.
   If the medical provider is not limited by how much money you have at time of service, but can add to its take by getting you to cough up money you will make in the future, it is going to do so. The increase of lending in American has led to an increase in medical prices.
   Secondly, if the medical provider is not limited by how much you, as an individual, have in your own pockets, but can collect from someone with larger pockets, instead, he will do so. And, obviously, an insurance company has much more money in its account than what any one person has.
   Thirdly, if the medical provider can go after your property, it can increase the pool of money it has available to go after. I doubt that 200 years ago that doctors came after people's property the way the industry does today.
   If we really want to address the high cost of medicine, then we must address these three things. We must address how the medical industry gets at more of our money as a result of credit, insurance, and liens.
    We have allowed more money to be spread on the table, and the medical industry is sweeping it up.