Like Medicare? 
I had a little sebaceous cyst that my doctor said needed to be removed. It had to be done at the hospital as an outpatient and was done under a local anesthetic. The whole process took less than 15 minutes. I asked the surgeon why he could not have done it in his office. He told me that his medical insuranceā wouldnāt allow it. He also said that I could make $5000 if I filed a lawsuit about the procedure. He said the insurance wouldnāt even challenge the claim. The bill to my insurance company was $365. This was back in 1975. A week later, I discovered the same type of cyst on my dog. Our veterinarian removed the cyst, but had to use a anesthetic to put the dog under so the dog wouldnāt bite the veterinarian. The cost of the dogās surgery was just over $50 back then. I thought about going to the veterinarian for my own health care, but I donāt like the way he would take my temperature.
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The answer to high cost of medical care is to learn to take care of yourself. In old times, there were grandpas and grandpas who knew how to cure many but not all illnesses that today overload doctors and bankrupt the nation. Medical associations are guilds, such as the basket-maker guilds of medieval times which injured or killed people who tried to make their own baskets.
Answer a simple question. Who is responsible for your health? Think about it. YOU ARE!!! just as you can control your car costs by how you drive, you can control your own health issues.
Some time ago the usual suspects on this board really trashed me when I said most of the time I can diagnose my own health problems. Medical diagnostics are implemented the same as automotive diagnostics. You need to know something about medicine to diagnose medical issues, the same as you need to know about cars to diagnose car problems.
Over my life time, half the time I went to a doctor, Iād have been better off with a veterinarian. I am not going to type in a lot of stories, but I certainly could if it werenāt off-topic on a car board. Doctors are sort of like mechanics. The majority arenāt worth their salt, only suited for sniffles and fevers, (ala bad brakes and suspension problems for mechanics) and charging big money for referring patients to specialists. A small number are total geniuses, like a couple of our mechanics on this board; the problem is finding them.
I got tired of big bills for poor medicine. Around 1980, I drove to the State University and walked into the book store. I assumed it was illegal to have medical books if you werenāt a doctor. I walked into the medical section, picked out a couple of desk references, and took them up to the cashier, who rang them up; I paid and went home.
I still have those references; one was Krupp and Chatton. I now have the Merck Manual in English, cost well under $100. And, I have a copy of Guyton and Hall physiology text book used in medical schools in US and Mexico (translated to Spanish for the latter.) It supports the Atkins diet.
For some years, every time anyone in the family went to the doctor, I took his diagnose and looked it up. Ditto for prescribed medicines. Eventually, it started making sense. That doesnāt mean I can diagnose everything that happens, of course. But, most things are minor once you learn.
The current system has people convinced that medical problems are so complex and scary that no one but a doctor can possibly deal with them. And, believe as I did, that itās illegal to even have medical books. Most people donāt even know proper usage of aspirin.
I understand most guys donāt have the cojones to diagnose their own problems. But, one book, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, around $10 on Amazon (but please buy locally if you can find it, local stores are going bust in large numbers due to on-line ordering) is written for non-medical people to help you decide if you can fix minor, common problems at home. Groups which have given free copies to their members see as much as a 15% reduction in medical costs.
It has flow charts for common symptoms, and also includes tidbits, like taking 1500 mg of calcium a day eliminates osteoporosis over time. (My wife did that after using horribly expensive Fosamax for years.)
There are two people in my village who will tell you I saved their lives. A cousin had unstable angina and after three days on Atkins, he had his last attack.
My friend, who has been a doctor for 35 years, told me one night, āMy leg muscles hurt when I walk.ā
Since he had told me Atkins could not possibly work, I as happily as I could, told him, āYou are going to die.ā Of course, he knew that.
Anyway, he got on Atkins and in a few weeks, his INTERMITTENT CLAUDICATION went away, and he has told me plain words that I saved his life. Now, he recommends low carb to his patients.
Here in Mexico I can walk into the local lab, and request a certain blood test; pay the money; pick up the results and analyze them myself. God bless the Internet!
Yeah I told the story before about self diagnosis. I told the emergency room doc that my symptoms did not fit the book symptoms of appendicitis. He told me they donāt always fit the book symptoms and took me in for burst appendix surgery. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose but I would have been dead.
Concerning cost, we mentioned the labor and prep costs but consider the difference in prices of an engine analyzer and an MRI machine. Yeah sure, doctors are just like mechanics-just charge more.
As far as mechanics vs doctors goes, one of my favorite jokes Iāve read and retold:
A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop.
The surgeon was there waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage, āHey, Doc, can I ask you a question?ā
The surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag. āSo Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?ā
The surgeon paused, smiled, leaned over, and whispered to the mechanicā¦
āTry doing it with the engine runningā
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Several years ago I suffered from some symptoms that were chronically annoying and sometimes terribly troubling. In 3+ years I spent $12,000+ whatever insurance paid for all manner of tests ranging from COPD to lung cancer and various blood disorders. While in a somewhat morbid state one week I searched webmd and found that I had one of three problems; AIDs, organ transplant issues or diabetes. For less than $20 I checked my blood sugar repeatedly and found that a bowl of raisin bran threw my glucose level to over 200. And for anyone interested chronic high glucose levels, even moderately high, can result in a great deal of secondary problems. In my case pericardidits involving systemic mycosisā¦
If you take all the money spent on private health insurance, add in the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured medical costs, you get something like the cost for Great Britain. It has to be adjusted for population differences, but I think you can see how expensive health care is anywhere. Great Britain just has it all funded in one place, as opposed to being scattered in several programs as it is here.
I have the home surgery kit, āsuture selfā.
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Like you, for many years now, I have been practicing healthful habits of eating, exercising, and monitoring my health.
Iām practically a vegetarian and read books like Donāt Let Your Doctor Kill You, written by an MD.
I do go to several doctors regularly, but itās for routine check-ups and maintenance.
āChronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, are responsible for 7 of every 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75% of the nationās health spending. These chronic diseases can be largely preventable through close partnership with your healthcare team, or can be detected through appropriate screenings, when treatment works best.ā
https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/preventivehealth.html
This country could reduce health care costs by 50% If everybody made a concerted effort to maintain a healthy life-style. The problem is that until people are willing to sacrifice some food choices and do some cardio and strength training, health care costs will remain out of control, for themselves personally and for the nation. Prevention is the key.
CSA
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I would dispute this claim based on the fact that no matter how healthy you live, you are still eventually going to get sick and die. Every person who dies of lung cancer at the age of 50 is not going to need long term nursing home care when he is 90 with Alzheimers. You save yourself from premature death from heart disease only to go some other way later in life, just as expensively.
The least expensive way to go is to die in your sleep the day after you retire.
The monumental efforts to keep someone alive despite the obvious inevitable reality otherwise is one of the outrageous problems with our healthcare system. I have a living will to ensure that no one can keep me on life support beyond my due date. And it is my opinion that far too many doctors will throw everthing that a dying patients insurance will pay for until the line goes flat. The end of life efforts may be the greatest healthcare expense in many peoples lifetime. Possibly greater than all healthcare prior to their last few days.
So we come around to the death panel, the costs of your treatment outweigh the success of medical intervention, so what is a minimal acceptable chance of recovery? It is easier with cars for sure.
Many people are just way too fat. I have a friend whoās a cardiologistā¦30 years ago when he finished med-school and his many years of residency he would see maybe 2-3 morbidly obese people in a year. Now he sees almost 20ā¦and at least 5-10 who are super morbidly obese.
However staying fit doesnāt mean you wonāt see a hospital or have extremely high medical expenses.
Which part do you dispute? The whole thing? The 50%?
Shall we make it 18%? These are not my estimates. Thereāre many people making these claims, people far more able to make this assessment than I am. A simple search will give some idea of what Iām talking about.
Weāll all get sick and die? I know. Relating that to cars, all cars in use will eventually develop problems and eventually go to a salvage yard. Should we stop maintaining vehicles? Many here argue that preventive maintenance keeps vehicle operating costs lower by preventing expensive repair to items like engines and transmissions.
Besides, would you enjoy a car that pulls to the left, has inadequate brakes, smokes, breaks down, or is loud?
A healthy lifestyle requires maintenance to help prevent things like diabetes, heart disease/strokes, cancer, shortness of breath, etcetera. The expense incurred from treating chronic illness (much of which can be prevented) over long periods of time is what can be reduced.
And just like a poorly maintained car, mobility and reliability are compromised by not practicing prevention and living a health lifestyle.
And another thingā¦ I feel so much better by living a health lifestyle that that alone is reason to live it. I ride a bicycle on days I donāt play golf. I run 5Ks. I donāt go to restaurants. I play golf regularly and I always āwalk.ā Iām known at the club as āthe guy who runs.ā 
Trust me, it saves me healthcare money, personally. Multiply that by all the other old guys (Iām living a healthy lifestyle and it adds up.
CSA
And many just plain over-weight. You know whatās better to assess weight than BMI (Body Mass Index)?
Simply being sure that your waist measurement is less than 1/2 your height.
Simple. It gives many over-weight folks a goal. There are fewer variables to mess with and itās a decent assessment.
CSA
I donāt want to just stay alive till Iām 90ā¦I want to be healthy when Iām 90.
Iām in my 60ās and still an avid weight lifter (5-6 days a week). Run a couple days a weekā¦golf (walking and carrying bag)2 days a week (when I retire I plan on doing more). Eat healthy, donāt drink that muchā¦never smoked.
I have friends and colleagues who are younger (some even 30 years younger) who have far more health problems then I ever hadā¦and itās all because of their lifestyle. There are some that are just born with bad genes. But I think the vast majority just donāt take care of themselves.
I want to live as long as possible because there are still a lot of people on this board and other places that I want to irritate. The last thing I want to do in this world is croak because I know where the hell Iāll be going. If I havenāt irritated you yet, just hang around and Iāll get to you.
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Triedaq.
Iāll look forward to the day when Youāll be irritating me. Iāll probably have to live to the ripe old age of 130 before that happens. Thatās probably also about that time Iāll get finished with my projects.
Besides, you have to be around long enough to finally blow-up that old lawn mower so that Mrs.Triedaq wonāt expect you to use it anymore. 
Also, you need to be available to yell, āGet off my lawn!ā when those darn kids come around.
CSA
Bertrand Russell advises to choose your parents wisely if you want to live to a healthy old age.