The True Cost of Healthcare Part 1

A talk I gave for AARP members about the website:
http://truecostofhealthcare.org
When I began my medical career more than a decade ago,
people were already very concerned about the
skyrocketing cost of healthcare. However, as much as
everyone knew medical costs were high, no one in my
profession seemed to know why. None of my colleagues
could answer even simple questions about what,
specifically, was costing so much. This seemed to be a
real problem: how could we begin to control these
costs, if even the people in the field didn't know
what they were?

Why didn't we know? To start with, unlike any other
business in America, almost all of the financial
transactions in health care are hidden from the
providers as well as the patients. We order tests,
procedures and medications to manage our patients, but
very few doctors, or other healthcare providers, have
any idea how much any of those things cost. Patients
only rarely pay directly for these services and
payment for any service varies substantially from
different payers. Hospitals have separate billing
departments that are far removed from anyone ordering
or performing tests or procedures. No one directly
involved with patient care has any notion of the
charge or reimbursement for their service. Even most
private doctor's offices contract billing companies,
who just send them a check each month from the total
amount collected, leaving them no notion of the actual
charge or reimbursement for an individual service they
provided.

On November 17, I gave a presentation about my website
to AARP members at a senior center near where I
practice. My wife recorded it and I uploaded the video
to YouTube. It's in six parts (because of the length)
and I did edit some of it out to avoid rambling on.

David Belk M.D.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• healthcare costs
• medication costs
• true cost of healthcare
• Pharmaceutical costs
• Health Care
• Pharmaceutical Drug
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• medical
• Doctor
• MD
• Doctor Of Medicine

[mauriceraffoul]

health care is regulated buy lobbiest and doctors like the one talking, if you outlaw healthinsurance, the cost would collapse look at the cost of cosmetic surgery in the last 15 years. cost has come way down. why insurace does not pay for it. also people get sick and die every day, but over paying doctors like this system because it is not a result job, it is a time spent job. Sorry focks that is bull shit. I own realestate i dont get paid unless i rent units and by and sell house, period.

[davidbelk46]

@mauriceraffoul I'd respond to this comment but, I'm not quite sure I understand it so I can't.

[willyr9]

Thanks to doctor Belk for shining the light of truth on the healthcare cost situation in America.

The cost of prescription medicines was particularly interesting to me. I didn't realize you could save so much on a year's supply of (in my case) blood pressure medicine just by going to Costco as opposed to Walmart. The info on how hospital billing works on his truecostofhealthcare (dot org) was informative as well. Maybe the Occupy Wall Street folks ought to occupy a hospital or two?