One 'Dem Good Problems
There are such things as good problems such as "What do I do with all this money?" or "I can't decide which hot chick to bone" or "Should I go to Europe or South America for summer vacation." See? These are good problems.
Are the problems in American today actually "good problems?"
Certainly not superficially. We feel broke. We feel like we're involved in two endless wars. We've got massive pressure on the middle class from jobs, to college cost, to healthcare cost to retirement costs. But let me posit another thesis - all of these problems are actually good problems.
Healthcare. The reason healthcare is a problem is cost. But the reason it costs so much is that we have some really awesome procedures, knowledge, and technology that allows us to live a lot longer. Living longer is more expensive than dying young.
Take the example of Lasik surgery. It is costly, something like $5000. For a middle class person, that is a lot of money. I personally could use Lasik, but don't want to spend the money. Is this a tragedy? No. Can you imagine someone with awful eyesight from the 1930s being launched into the future and explaining this problem to him. "The problem is this - I'm a low paid Hollywood assistant. It really isn't practical for me to get this medical procedure that would be useful. I'd have to save up a bunch of money for like a year or two and maybe even borrow a little from my parents..."
"Hold on a minute...what is this procedure you need?"
"Lasik surgery. It fixes your eyesight."
"What do you mean, fixes your eyesight? Like a pair of glasses? Are glasses that expensive now?"
"No, no. You get a laser procedure that gives you 20/20 vision. No glasses. It literally fixes your vision."
"You mean, so you can see perfectly?"
"Yes."
"How much does this cost?"
"$5000. A couple months salary."
"So you're telling me you can completely fix your eyesight for the rest of your life at the cost of a couple months salary."
"Yes."
A good problem.
To be continued...
2 comments:
An interesting point, however, i'd like to point out that expensive healthcare isn't simply due to non-essential procedures like Lasik. Just the other day a friend of mine was reduced to tears in the middle of a CVS because she learned that a prescription her son needs to take daily raised drastically price to $45. This may not seem like a lot but when you are living on a tight budget like most families are these days it makes a difference. I understand that we are lucky enough to live in a time where new but costly procedures extended our lives, but don't make the mistake of thinking that that is the only way in which healthcare is costly. The real problem is that medical care is priced for the insured, doctors and hospitals overcharge because they know insurance companies will under pay and so the uninsured and those with crappy insurance are screwed.
i certainly agree the system is not operating at maximum efficiency. the whole idea that if i go to a doctor for a knee problem it costs me the same copay to get a knee brace or an MRI is pretty absurd. someone pays for that difference, but it is hidden from the people who make the decision about what procedure to get. so you can see why people would get unnecessary MRIs, thus driving insurance prices all around up. you apply it across the board and it goes some ways to explain the high cost.
i can understand how a daily increase of $45 can be super painful for a young couple. but you can't forget that 50-75 years ago a lot of these things we consider costly and essential didn't even exist and the way we dealt with it was a lot more infants died young. the way these drugs were invented was by companies investing heavily in research with the intention of recouping the costs by selling it for $45 a pop to the people who could use it.
as much as anyone, i wish no one got sick and if they did, the cures were cheap. some things work this way, like the polio vaccine. but sadly, nature has a say and it doesn't consider costs.
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