Our Industrial Medical Complex is out of control and we know that from looking at the cost of medical care, medications, health insurance, and hospital stays. The system is preparing us and there is nothing we can do about it. Adam Smith warned us about the risks of big business and industry approaching the government in an incestuous relationship, and well, that’s exactly what happened.
All these problems did not happen overnight, call it a comedy of errors, or rather a comedy of corruption that has gotten us to where we are today. And let’s not shoot the messenger here, rather let’s spend a few minutes discussing all of this.
We watch HMOs grow thanks to favorable laws created to help big campaign contributors. Then we saw the consolidation of the industry. We saw that HIPPA laws put smaller systems and hospitals out of business, unable to meet new mandates, or to pay for huge computer systems. Why? Well, Silicon Valley donors wanted to sell more enterprise software and hardware, and major players in the hospital sector loved the idea, as it would provide more barriers to entry as the majors grew and gained more political power.
The Industrial Medical Complex continued to grow when Bush II enacted the Senior Drug Coverage Act. The pharmaceutical industry has never had it better, the government became its best customer, one with unlimited funds.
The Obama administration introduced an “ObamaCare” plan that would essentially guarantee anyone who couldn’t afford health insurance to have the medical services or drugs they need, FREE. Well, it was not free, remember that almost all private insurance plans had a 200% increase in the cost of paying for all free people. It was surprising how many visits to the doctor, medical services and pharmaceutical drugs that doctors and their patients could devise according to “needs”.
Okay, these are just a few of the things that made the industrial medical complex so powerful. Today, while the Corona virus is wreaking havoc, we see hospitals complaining that they could be overrun and collapse because they don’t have enough protective equipment, medical personnel, or ventilators. It is claimed that they were unprepared for this Corona virus or such a rush over the need for ICU beds or ventilators. But why not?
These healthcare organizations have overcharged us for decades, they have a lot of money to buy what they need and global supply chains. Suddenly they can’t handle a pandemic? Why do we need the industrial medical complex if it can’t function? Instead, they need help from the government. Do they want monetary support and the government to pay for their equipment and supplies? WHY? Why?
Because supposedly they could never have anticipated a global pandemic like that? Really, I mean over the years I’ve read a lot of reports that say ‘it’s not if, but when’ a pandemic will hit us. Why didn’t they prepare, why didn’t they have supplies in stock? Think about how much money your clients, patients and clients have taken away. How much money have they received from the government for taking care of people’s health, or how much have they absorbed from the health insurance companies that have passed that cost, and more for all of us?
WHY?