Doctors have a hard time, but you can't lower US healthcare costs without lowering the salaries of those involved (which is why it is so hard). The fact of the matter is that they are high for reasons both justifiable and other less so.
Insurance companies profit margin is actually not very large on average (~11% I believe -- even worse for those in states with cost-spiraling providers post Obamacare), and while they are nobody's favorite they take a disproportionate amount of heat for what is driving up costs in healthcare.
Healthcare salaries are the bulk of the costs of the healthcare industry, just like administrative & teacher salaries are the bulk in bloated education budgets (well, outside of things like waste on things like sports programs). That's just the breaks, and its important to acknowledge they are a lobbying interest group as strong as any other (actually, one of the strongest/highest spending)
So, shortage of doctor supply (like with housing) really really has an impact. It also does not help that hospitals frequently have veto rights over other health institutions opening up on their turf. Really. Another problem is regulations that encourage consolidation of providers (see BCBS & Partners here in MA) further diminishing pricing ability (and this is additionally really bad for insurance companies, who have less leverage to fight back against high charges from fewer hospital networks)
The fact of the matter is that the US over-spends on just about every sector of the economy because the US is richer. Richer countries also disproportionately spend on healthcare of frequently marginal benefit at best.
Not sure what the military budget has to do with this. It's a lot, but that it is bloated doesn't mean more health spending is justified or that we do not over-spend on doctors -- they aren't comparable things.
Whatever sacrifice doctors make in school is what justifies the salaries, but you also have other forces at play (largely regulatory burden, or bad regulations generally) that are causing them to drop out of being a GP in the first place as they chase higher paying spots as specialists.
Insurance companies profit margin is actually not very large on average (~11% I believe -- even worse for those in states with cost-spiraling providers post Obamacare), and while they are nobody's favorite they take a disproportionate amount of heat for what is driving up costs in healthcare.
Healthcare salaries are the bulk of the costs of the healthcare industry, just like administrative & teacher salaries are the bulk in bloated education budgets (well, outside of things like waste on things like sports programs). That's just the breaks, and its important to acknowledge they are a lobbying interest group as strong as any other (actually, one of the strongest/highest spending)
So, shortage of doctor supply (like with housing) really really has an impact. It also does not help that hospitals frequently have veto rights over other health institutions opening up on their turf. Really. Another problem is regulations that encourage consolidation of providers (see BCBS & Partners here in MA) further diminishing pricing ability (and this is additionally really bad for insurance companies, who have less leverage to fight back against high charges from fewer hospital networks)
The fact of the matter is that the US over-spends on just about every sector of the economy because the US is richer. Richer countries also disproportionately spend on healthcare of frequently marginal benefit at best.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-07-20/spending-...
Not sure what the military budget has to do with this. It's a lot, but that it is bloated doesn't mean more health spending is justified or that we do not over-spend on doctors -- they aren't comparable things.
Whatever sacrifice doctors make in school is what justifies the salaries, but you also have other forces at play (largely regulatory burden, or bad regulations generally) that are causing them to drop out of being a GP in the first place as they chase higher paying spots as specialists.