Senator Mike BraunGeverifieerd account

I would point out that they would be just fine with that as the Federal government is not allowed to negotiate.

Here our unit is senator thinks government oversight is actually going to do something. The whole purpose of the current government oversight is to keep competition out of the country and keep money flowing from companies like Lily's to the pockets like Braun. Fraud!

A problem with our system is that market solutions don't work without competition. No one is going to build a second hospital to compete with a hospital in Tipton. There's just not enough demand. So instead, we have consolidation. Tipton Hospital becomes IU Health...

St. Joe in Kokomo becomes part of the St. Vincent network, which becomes part of the even larger Ascension Health system. Howard County Hospital becomes Community Howard. Insurers lose leverage to keep costs down. Patients never had leverage because inelastic demand.

Before consolidation, insurers used to negotiate up from the actuarially defined Medicare rate. Now afterward, they negotiate down from charge master rate, you know, the $90 Band-Aid rates.