Hacker News Reader

Price caps play a role, but rationing plays an even bigger role. Google search for the McKinsey paper on US healthcare costs. The volume of outpatient procedures in the US is quite shocking compared to other countries.

Yes, things cost more in the US, but the volume is also quite a lot higher.

View on HN

In your parent post you mention outcomes, and that's a really important thing you're missing when you talk about "rationing".

If a scan is more likely to cause harm than to treat illness is it really being rationed, or do single payer systems have an easier time not providing harmful over-testing and over-treatment options?

Interesting about the volume being higher. In most logistical systems that would drive avg price down.

Perhaps the total volume is higher, but this doesn't lead to downwards price pressure since there are many small(ish) buyers.

The opposite is often said for the NHS in the UK - certainly a smaller buyer than the US aggregate, but maybe a larger player than any one of them?

Blue Cross Blue Shield buys for 100 million patients. How much bigger does it need to get to save money?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com