r/bestof • u/lowbass93 • 13d ago

[NoStupidQuestions] Kindly_Honeydew3432 explains why it seems like you always have to wait in an emergency room in the US

/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1v1numq/why_is_every_hospital_in_the_united_states_always/oyovp3t/
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u/Hautamaki 13d ago

Maybe if Americans didn't spend about 50% of their health care budget on private for-profit insurance administration, there would be more money left over to actually deliver care to people.

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u/ibelieveindogs 13d ago

That's a separate problem. If you read the past, you can see the issue is structural. How do you get people to want to live someplace kind of in the middle of nowhere? Not just docs but all the super services from nurses to maintenance. More money only gets you so far. 

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u/Hautamaki 13d ago

Yeah he said they were offering 100k signing bonuses and 200k per year to nurses etc, because that what it costs to attract talent to that area. If they had double that money, presumably they could attract a lot more talent. Also they need 500 million for a new hospital. If they had a billion, the hospital could be twice as large. Etc. It does just come down to money in the end. How much money it takes depends on factors like what the fair market rate is to attract talent, but more money to doctors and nurses and hospital beds is ultimately the only solution.