Who knows something about health care economics?

Answer 1

Lots of people do; but what exactly is your question? If you need an introduction, read it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_economics

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Answer 2

As with any economics, you have to identify the raw material, the product, the producer/manager and the consumer.
Once you have identified these things and their values, then you can begin to put economic values to them and make decisions based on qualitative rather than unknown or 2nd hand information.
For instance, what does it cost to build, furnish, supply, staff (24x7) and eventually re-fit or close the facility due to total depletion of the facility's usefulness either through changed demographics or complete out-dating of the building to the point where a new one would be cheaper than re-fitting?
If you guessed in the 10 millions of dollars region, you are about 1/5 of the way there for the first year of operation for a very small clinic. And this would not include the consumables such as medicines, bandages, x-ray film etc.
Expand this cost over the approximate 10 year life of the technology and the average cost of continued education and volatile economics of government medicare, SSI, Social Security and Insurance funding (whole different class, kids), mix in the declining willingness of State level program funding and the reduction of the number of programs both State and Federal (all having to be picked up either by the consumer or the privately insured) and you have a budget that now soars to the hundreds of millions for a sub-urban clinic that serves an area of 10,000 or so people.
So why not free health care? Who will pay? Would you pay $450,000 to go to school (average school not a super nice one) for 12 years (more if you specialize) and have 20 years of loans that have accumulated interest all those years just so you can work for less than half of what a starting plumber earns (who was trained on the job)? Most young people won't. Now add on top of the the incredible sums being awarded against Dr's insurance for malpractice...about 1/3 to 2/3 of the Dr's annual salary to maintain that insurance...(over 95% of all "malpractice" is due to mandatory 36-96 hours shifts in intense detail demanding thought processes. There are too few doctors, way too many hours and patients and mistakes get made by very good, very sharp, very intelligent and highly educated doctors who are just too tired and have no other option but to see you or finish the operation once started.)
I know this is long. You asked and it is not an easy subject. Until laws limit judgments for actual damages, costs will skyrocket. Until health insurance companies are limited in how much profit is the legal limit (without giving away excess in bonuses and golden collar benefits to the top 1% of their management), And as long as the government doesn't live up to the proper maintenance and turn-around of governmental program payments (60 vs 180 day if at all) and as long as 72% of all patients continue to mis-self-diagnose and seek emergency care for non-emergency issues (and then not pay for it because they didn't have permission from their insurance...if they had insurance at all), as long as insurance remains beyond the reach of the average $25,000 per year family worker, as long as people continue to seek medical care without intention of payment, as long as hospitals continue to play the 'who has the newest and fanciest' game and as long as we as a society treat our bodies with such incredible disrespect and abuse....
There is no limit to how high and fast the cost of health care can rise.