Blog 4 The “Healthcare Industrial Complex” is an umbrella under which a number of “For Profit” industries reside. The tax payer is irrevocably tied to this Industrial Complex, with our representatives supposedly acting as unbiased mediator for both. There was a time when the industries relied on efficiency to profit, but at some point realized that inefficiency was more profitable. That’s what the confusion, disarray and institutional lunacy, that often accompanies illness is for…It’s “For Profit”. The goal is now more about separating cash from the taxpayer than it is about providing quality goods and services. (These Industries have become monopolies. All of the benefits derived from Free Market competition do not exist in the vacuum of monopoly.) The decision to rely on inefficiency marks the beginning of what is known as the Long Wrong Trajectory.
There is a good swath of healthcare that is provided by Non-Profit, Tax Free entities. Oddly these entities are absolutely obsessed with profit…Not efficiency…But profit…Tax free profit. The CEOs command multi million dollar salaries, gaudy perks and bonuses, compensation for their ability to Profit. In aid of this, these CEOs rely on unnecessary tests, procedures, and doctor visits. Enormous marketing budgets that allow them to target the Doctor/Entrepreneur and their “For Profit” clinics that use to be a mainstay in all communities, and a perfect example of what Free Market Capitalism should look like. It is against the law for us to cut drug costs by buying in bulk. This practice is standard Walmart USA and just common sense. As Non Profit these entities are regulated, so they dump millions into the pockets of lobbyists, and our representatives campaigns, which allows them write legislation and undo solid protective regulation. These expenses are then passed on to the taxpayer/consumer as the price of doing business.