Quote Originally Posted by MrTickle View Post
Quote Originally Posted by verminaard View Post

So now that we decided how we are going to pay way less for healthcare, how is the industry going to rebalance itself for the billions (trillions?) of $$ that just disappeared? I don't know how many people are employed either directly or indirectly in healthcare (10 million? 20 million? 50 million?). Are we just supposed to cut those jobs in half? Instead should we tell everyone working in the industry they are going to make 40% less? Should executives volunteer to take massive voluntary paycuts? I really don't know.

I will take you at your word that healthcare is a lot less expensive in Europe. In light of this, do you know how the system is able to work? Do people make a lot less $$? Are there a lot less employees (direct and indirect)? Do executives make a lot less? I think this is something that needs to be understood and taken into account if we are really trying to improve our system.
I can’t speak for the majority of countries but I can speak for the UK, my home country. Yes, everyone makes less. Doctors make 6 figures and not 7. Pharma companies get told no when they offer their drugs to the UK at an outrageous price.
The vast majority of doctors make ~$200k/yr. That is why the median salary is around ~$200k despite a very small minority of specialists who make a lot more. Its a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle, but nothing more, especially if you didn't come from money and had to take out loans for your education. Most doctors who have actual wealth it is because they were born into it or they made successful investments over their life.

I think any "solution" to the healthcare cost issue that involved the vast majority of doctors making less $$ would be a disaster for the medical industry the way it is currently constituted. Just my 2c.

I am sure you could streamline the system and make it more efficient and eliminate a lot of jobs, so salaries don't have to go down, but I am not sure how good a solution that is either, because I think any "solution" that involves getting rid of millions of middle-class jobs is going to be bad for society at large.