Health Care Costs

westernrvparkowner wrote:

Tom Trostel wrote:
I have a relative who is an emergency room doctor. He earns $400 per hour. No wonder is costs so much.

Ridiculous. He/she should be paid the same as the Fry Cook at McDonalds. I mean, they have no special skills, no special training, and if they screw up what's the big deal? Personally, the pay could be 100 times that amount if they saved my life or limb.
But petty jealousy is a powerful force, so go right on believing they are overpaid. (And I would bet all I have that you DON'T really know what that doctor actually makes, since doctors generally have to pay their own expenses such as staff, malpractice insurance (often six figures), office space, equipment etc.) As far as I am concerned, doctors earn every penny they make.

:h What does a doctor's pay have anything whatsoever to do with the "Fry Cooks at McDonald's," relative to the cost of medical services?

The total cost of any product or services has a bigger picture cost pattern than any individual's rate of pay. -Even "Fry Cooks at McDonald's.":S