Broomstick, I addressed this before and nobody responded. I am peeved by this. Doctors are proffesionals like airline pilots or lawyers. Why do you call them “greedy”? They freely offer their services and those who hire them are free to hire their services or not. Just like everybody else. It’s a free market and people ask for their services as much as they can get. Why can’t a doctor do it? He’s not a monk you know.
Likewise, hospitals, pharma companies, etc, are businesses. They are not charities, they are businesses and their first priority is to stay competitive so they can stay in business. They provide a service for a price just like an airline or a grocery store. If they are so immensely profitable why doesn’t more capital flow to that sector? Maybe they are not as profitable as some like to think?
When I go to Safeway to buy my groceries they are providing me with food which is essential to maintain my existence and yet nobody calls them greedy - - - ok, some people call any company greedy but you know what I mean.
Face it, health care is one more service which other fellow humans offer us for a price. Just like any other good or service. Either we are all “greedy” or doctors and health care companies are no more greedy than the rest of us.
I am sick of the stereotype that rich people must be greedy and poor people must be honest and disinterested. Anecdote: Some years ago I was due in court in Arlington , VA, on a winter day which happened to be a major snowstrom. My car got stuck in the snow very close to the court house and I had no way to get it out. I went to a nearby construction site and asked if I could borrow a shovel and they said they would “rent” it to me for some outrageous amount, like the cost of buing 4 shovels. I was quite desperate but as a matter of principle (and cheapness) I told them to get screwed. As I was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to dig snow with my hands, a guy (who turned out to be a lawyer on his way to the courthouse) came to my help. He broke a branch and made a stick and we managed to get the car out. I don’t care if the lawyer makes millions and the construction workers barely make a living. Their true kindness or greedyness was clearly demonstrated.
I have no doubt that there are some doctors who are greedy as there are patients who are greedy but this is totally irrelevant when judging a proffesional relationship. Doctors are free to ask whatever they want and you are free to not hire them. That’s a free market. Doctors wages are set by the market.
And if you think they make such a killing, then you can become a doctor yourself or invest in a pharma or hospital company. As simple as that.