Category Archives: Unit 5

Michael DeLaGarza 1:09 am on May 7, 2016  

Patient’s Costs Skyrocket, Specialists’ Income Soar

I am hesitant to comment on this article, mostly because I have minimal knowledge on the field of healthcare. However, I do have friends that have gone the medical route, and to be honest, yes it does require a lot of studying and a decent percentage of your time is required just to make it through all of the necessary steps to become a doctor or even a nurse. That being said, I believe that it is not proper justification to charge people exorbitant amounts (even life changing) of money to get simple needed procedures done. What is essentially being dictated is that your ability to live happily should be unaffordable because they decided to spend a lot of time studying the field. Yes, it requires a lot of studying and money, but some of the figures thrown out in this article were eye opening. A large amount of these professionals are making ½ million dollars plus annually and they complain that their student loans amounted to one fifth of a year’s salary? Last I saw, most programs will cost a person what amounts to multiple years of salary to pay off coming out of college, not just one or two, and they do not go on to make as much as doctors. Typically hey are stuck near their entry level pay.

Michael DeLaGarza 1:08 am on May 7, 2016  

Doctors Vote with Their Feet and Move to Canada

This makes sense from an economic standpoint. Ultimately economic systems tend to migrate toward the most efficient ways of getting things done, granted they have competition. Less money spent negotiating whether or not someone needed a check up is more money in the pockets of the the employed and those who seek out a check up or a procedure. I know we as economists do not make decisions off of one instance (same for statisticians) but i know people who deal with the Canadian health care system as patients, and they think the U.S. system is terrible compared to the U.S. Often times people talk about the long waits in a doctor’s office, but the truth is that they prioritize based on what is wrong. If you were to go in with something that is serious like a gunshot wound you would be admitted immediately, they don’t leave you to die in the waiting room. Likewise, if you are there for a flu vaccine, you will have the longer wait time because they are trying to take care of the patients who need immediate attention.

Michael DeLaGarza 1:07 am on May 7, 2016  

Some facts about the PPACA

It’s pretty nice that we have started covering people who need health-care. I looked around on http://obamacarefacts.com/costof-obamacare/ to try and supplement the information, and this is what I found. The cost of “Obamacare” is actually itself declining as well. This is due to the tax breaks employers are getting from the program, as well as market-place subsidies and the expansion of Medicaid and CHIP. I believe the decline was around 7% from April of 2014 to what is now estimated for 2016 until 2025.

Michael DeLaGarza 1:07 am on May 7, 2016  

Health Care and Inter-generational Issues

Even though this reading was a somewhat brief introduction to the next couple of units, I wanted to comment on the success of capitalism. In brief, one of the many problems that pre 1980’s China and the Soviet Union had with their economies is that they essentially walled off their country to the world market. That’s not to say that the people didn’t want to work hard, but, for example, the government would dictate how many crops their farmers could grow regardless of the fact that their people were starving and didn’t have food sources, so that they could control the aggregate output and thus sustain their exports of grain. This meant that they were punished for working too much, which showed when they starting allowing businesses to come in and produce goods.

Branden Garbin 12:10 am on April 15, 2016  

The “Patients’ Costs Skyrocket Specialists’ Incomes Soar” article…

The “Patients’ Costs Skyrocket; Specialists’ Incomes Soar” article revealed some of the most outlandish and asinine medical costs i have ever heard. It shows a huge disparity from the costs of medical care in the united states verses the rest of the world. I personally have had to deal with outrageously high medical bills for surgeries. I had my foot ran over by a 22 ton boom lift a couple years back. Though my medical bills were covered for the cost seamed abnormally high. I had two surgeries one in which consisted of removing one of my toes and cutting off a large amount of dead tissue the other consisted of putting in 3 metal plates and 13 screws into my foot. The medical bill for both proceeders including hospital costs were roughly 250 thousand dollars. Today i am still fighting over medical bills and where they should be allocated.

Branden Garbin 1:46 am on April 14, 2016  

I have in recent years taken a look…

I have in recent years taken a look at the Chinese economy and have always had the same idea in mind. Which is that there is no way that there GDP is growing at such a fast rate without some sort of cooking of the books and that there set for an economic crises. The article i have posted below goes into depth about the latter. I have read countless articles about the impending chines debt crises and consider it a strong possibility in the near future. This article was extremely fascinating because it specifically talks about debt and credit. With china being the worlds second largest economy a debt crises can have horrific global repercussions.

China’s leaders are blowing their last chance to avert an economic crisis
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/13/chinas-leaders-are-blowing-their-last-chance-to-avert-an-economi/

Branden Garbin 1:07 am on April 14, 2016  

Today brazil faces a terrible crises that can…

Today brazil faces a terrible crises that can effect the global economy. Below i posted two articles about Brazils debt and corresponding political problems. Brazil being one of the worlds largest emerging markets could have big implications on the global economy if they were to fall into a prolonged recession. With the upcoming olympics and large deposits of natural resources as well as being a big player in the agricultural market what will come of the emerging titan? I think that brazil has the potential to change its course, not without a possible change in regime and economic policies. Brazil has massive oil reserves that are state run, with Petrobras being present Brazil has the resources to combat its debt crises. The two articles below go into depth about the upcoming economic crises bringing up historical and comparative references to give a really nice understanding of what is going on. I strongly recommend that everyone should at least glance over these articles.

Brazils crises Irredeemable?
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21684778-former-star-emerging-world-faces-lost-decade-irredeemable

Brazil’s Highs and Lows
http://www.bloombergview.com/quicktake/brazils-highs-lows

Branden Garbin 1:24 am on April 12, 2016  

I do not entirely agree with the train…

I do not entirely agree with the train of thought behind the “Doctors Vote With Their Feet and Move to Canada” article. It states that the “tall tale” of the Canadian health care system, being so bad that they can’t find enough doctors and medicine in Canada so the doctors move to the U.S is a lie. Saying that its actually doctors moving to Canada because its far better there than in the U.S. Now I agree that the Canadian system is so bad they can’t find enough doctors and medicine to provide there citizens. This comes to no surprise as they have been having these issues for some time now. And most other socialized medical systems are pledged by the same issues. But i think it is more of a supply and demand issue than the job being better in Canada. My thoughts are socialism and socialized programs can never work to the degree a privet organization can. Private organizations can aways provide better care with a higher degree of satisfaction simply because if they don’t they will be replaced by another organization. Beyond that if Canadians don’t have enough doctors ( i.e high demand and low supply) wouldn’t the natural process of economics be doctors moving to Canada ( getting benefits to do so) to fix supply? I don’t have the most sound understanding of the subject but i believe my logic is true. The natural laws of supply and demand back my reasoning. Id love to hear others thoughts about this.

Branden Garbin 1:24 am on April 12, 2016  

I am a bit of a conservative and…

I am a bit of a conservative and had pre existing woes regarding the patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, empirical data does not lie. From the “Some Facts About the PPACA” essay i learned allot. I had not previously realized allot of the positive benefits Obamacare has yielded. such as the reduction in the re-admission rate, and that per person hospital spending has reduced. I still have copious issues regarding the PPACA and i will have to admit my knowledge on the act has been a bit partisan. Although, learning the results of Obamacare from a new perspective has shed light on the subject and has gotten me intreated into learning everything i can about the patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Regardless if it is good or bad.

Branden Garbin 1:24 am on April 12, 2016  

The “Healthcare and Intergenerational Issues” essay was particularly…

The “Healthcare and Intergenerational Issues” essay was particularly interesting in the explanation of Asymmetrical and/or incomplete information goods such as healthcare, and the reliance we all have on doctors to diagnose help treat and prescribe medicine for us. Before reading this essay i never really considered a doctor to be defined in such a way. It seems almost ominous to have that much reliance and assumed trust for a service. In terms of the explanation of goods and the process of creating and selling goods this essay has excellent contextual examples.