Barnesfolio

Restraint—severe, jaw-clenching restraint—in criticizing the  medical-industrial complex is probably justified based on  the effectiveness of public medicine in substantially extending average lifespans and in drastically reducing the desultory effects of communicable diseases.  Well, the logic chains imposing the restraint are turning to smoke.  First, we hear that this year’s flu shot is effective at a rate of 9% for people 65 years and older. Overall the effective rate is 56%:  So much of medicine and effective communicable disease defense.  But what really gets the restraint on criticism smoking re such vignettes as Steven Brill’s February 20, 2013 TIME magazine article, BITTER PILL: WHY MEDICAL BILLS ARE KILLING US.

Who pays $1.49 for an acetaminophen (Tylenol) pill that cost $1.49 for a bottle of 100s? A better question is why would anyone even consider the possibility of paying $1.49 for a acetaminophen pill? You do, by fiscal proxy, since you pay money into Medicare or you pay for health insurance.

Apparently if you examine a hospital bill, you will see itemized costs for everything from the cost of drawing your blood to blowing your nose. The upshot of all this detail is that you learn you are paying for everything done in a hospital except breathing. So, President Obama’s Affordable Care Act takes a step into getting everyone into the medical-industrial complex. It is, hopefully, the first step of a two-step journey that results in putting constraints on the medical-industrial complex open-greed gold fields.