To Improve health care and reduce costs we need to change the incentive from making money off of sick people to improving the health of the patient.

Tom Price has a plan for Health Care.  His plan is to reduce transparency, reduce standards, and increase freedom to exploit the sick.

Of course he would describe his plan differently.  If you ask Tom Price what his plan is, he would say that he advocates empowering individuals with their doctors so they can make their own health care decisions free from community interference.  And he is trying to pass laws in Congress and is encouraging the States to enact patient-centered, market-based programs to do this.

As a Doctor, it is clear why Rep. Price would like a system that frees him from any transparency and community interference.  He wants a lot of sick people that have no information so he can charge them as much as he can so he can make as much profit as he can.  He says, he wants patients to make their own decision in a free market system, just as one might when they by a car.  However, clearly, unlike buying a car where the buyer could know more about cars than the seller, Dr. Tom Price will always know more about what is wrong with the patient than the patient.  This places the patient at huge disadvantage.  In economics it is called “Information Asymmetry.”  Dr. Tom Price makes a lot of money on sick people.  And he wants to change the rules so he can make more money.

I had hoped the passage of Obamacare would put this debate behind us.  But, sadly, Obamacare did not solve the problem.  In fact, health care costs continue to ballon much faster than inflation.

So, what is the answer.  I came across an interesting study by Prof. Grayboyes.  The Title of the Study is “Fortress and Frontier in American Health Care.”

Here is a short video Prof. Grayboyes put together to explain his view.

While I understand his view, I see the problem differently.

The problem is that, while every cell phone is exactly the same, not every hip replacement is exactly the same. While every Model T Ford was exactly the same, not every heart bypass is exactly the same.

Professor Graboyes comparison of health care services to technology is not a good comparison because you can gain huge cost savings through standardization in technology, but there is no such cost savings improvements in standardizing health care. In fact, by standardizing health care we would actually reduce quality care.

As long as the incentive is to make money on people getting sick, the sick will continue to pay more because those making money on people getting sick will continue to want to make more money.

We need to change the incentive of our health care industry from making money to making the patient well.