TheOneWithAReallyLongName on Nostr: I'll give you the pharmaceutical costs, those are inflated in the US. I don't think ...
I'll give you the pharmaceutical costs, those are inflated in the US. I don't think it's just insurance doing it, but it's complicated, so let's set that aside and just agree they could come way down in many cases.
As for Mexico, though, keep in mind that a much lower cost of living means that the doctor can more happily take a comparatively lowered wage, as can their clinic staff. That's a major portion of the cost of care, and it's not something we're likely to be able to replicate in the US.
The equipment, I'm not so sure how flexible that can really be. These things have lots of unavoidable costs. Raw materials cost what they cost, and other industries aren't going to cut the medical field deals out of kindness. High tech equipment is full of expensive circuitry that almost every industry needs these days. Build quality has to be high enough to ensure high accuracy for quality results, which requires skilled labor and extra time to get it right. Anything where mistakes can cost lives will probably require extensive documentation.
The medical industry may not totally die out, but it could definitely suffer and shrink. Doing things right costs a lot of money. Not enough people being able to pay doesn't change that. There's a minimum price floor for any product because there's always a minimum investment to produce it. If profit becomes impossible, medical care will tend to be offered near well off communities capable of supporting the practices.
For housing, people ALREADY can't afford housing. Millenials and younger are just fucked. They're not getting homes at nearly the same rates previous generations did. Landlords are buying them up, though, because you're right that there's permanent demand. That's why it results in a huge group of permanent renters.
As for Mexico, though, keep in mind that a much lower cost of living means that the doctor can more happily take a comparatively lowered wage, as can their clinic staff. That's a major portion of the cost of care, and it's not something we're likely to be able to replicate in the US.
The equipment, I'm not so sure how flexible that can really be. These things have lots of unavoidable costs. Raw materials cost what they cost, and other industries aren't going to cut the medical field deals out of kindness. High tech equipment is full of expensive circuitry that almost every industry needs these days. Build quality has to be high enough to ensure high accuracy for quality results, which requires skilled labor and extra time to get it right. Anything where mistakes can cost lives will probably require extensive documentation.
The medical industry may not totally die out, but it could definitely suffer and shrink. Doing things right costs a lot of money. Not enough people being able to pay doesn't change that. There's a minimum price floor for any product because there's always a minimum investment to produce it. If profit becomes impossible, medical care will tend to be offered near well off communities capable of supporting the practices.
For housing, people ALREADY can't afford housing. Millenials and younger are just fucked. They're not getting homes at nearly the same rates previous generations did. Landlords are buying them up, though, because you're right that there's permanent demand. That's why it results in a huge group of permanent renters.