Why is Healthcare in Need of Reform?

This story from a Sullivan reader is a good explanation. To have a broken hypodermic needle removed in a simple outpatient procedure that doesn't involve general anesthesia, including an x-ray, possible labs, maybe some antibiotics and/or a tetanus shot, costs $15,000?

My ex-wife got breast implants in 1992 for $4,400 (about $10,000 in today's money) and that included the initial consultation and pre-op screening, plus all post-op follow-ups. Can anyone tell me why this simple outpatient procedure would cost $15,000?

A previous Sullivan reader noted that insurance providers have "usual and customary" costs that they will pay for every single medical procedure, right down to a single aspirin tablet given in a hospital setting. Just because a doctor gets paid by insurance based on usual and customary doesn't mean that the doctor won't bill more to the patient after getting paid by insurance. Does that mean that doctors are greedy? Not necessarily, but surely some are. Does that also mean that a litigious society eager to hit deep pockets if something goes wrong has caused doctors to bill more for every procedure because of ever-increasing malpractice insurance? Probably. Does anyone think that a government-run public option will likely be stripped of any ability to regulate costs for medical procedures as a sop to the medical and insurance lobby? You'd probably be right, but I hope you're wrong.