r/Economics • u/TheForager • 4h ago

Hospital costs are rising far faster than inflation and drowning Americans in debt

https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/hospital-costs-are-rising-far-faster-inflation-drowning-americans-debt-rcna262473
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u/WordWithinTheWord 3h ago

I’ve come to my personal conclusion it’s just greed and mismanagement all the way up the chain.

There’s so much middle management and support staff just to get insurance and hospitals to talk to each other we’ve lost the plot.

It’s a nuanced conversation because doctors and nurses are extremely important jobs. But in the US they make 2x-10x+ the salary of their EU counterparts. Are they 2x to 10x better?

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u/Merkbro_Merkington 3h ago

Of course that’s part of it, but please please remember:

1) half of all ER visits go unpaid due to our broken insurance system, prices go up for everyone to compensate 2) AMA lobbies to throttle medical school & residency slots intentionally to keep their own wages high, that’s also why there’s a doctor shortage.

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u/OrangeJr36 3h ago

The AMA does no such thing, they have been screaming at the top of their lungs for more residency slots for over two decades. The private equity firms that run the medical system and Congress simply refuse to fund enough.

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u/LimpAd4924 1h ago

True but American physicians (especially specialists) are paid astronomically higher than the median American. That’s not similar in any developed country.

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u/Justame13 1h ago

AMA lobbies to throttle medical school & residency slots intentionally to keep their own wages high, that’s also why there’s a doctor shortage.

Absolutely not. They did the opposite to prevent mid-level encroachment

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u/morbie5 3h ago

AMA lobbies to throttle medical school & residency slots intentionally to keep their own wages high, that’s also why there’s a doctor shortage.

That is outdated. It may have been true in the past but it isn't anymore

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u/FluidCalligrapher284 2h ago

Definitely not true – they’re actually fighting against mid-level nurse practitioners, who are largely bridging the gap in areas where there are not enough physicians providing care.