Billionaire investor Charlie Munger has been vocal about his concerns about health care in the US, stating that it was “launched with rampant waste” and has become “immoral”.
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Munger says there are significant problems that need to be addressed, including unnecessary costs and inefficiencies that plague the medical field.
Drawing a vivid analogy at the Annual Meeting of the Daily Journal, Munger compared the experience of a dying elderly person in several American hospitals to that of a corpse on the plains of Africa. He painted a grim picture, describing how vultures, jackals, hyenas, and other scavengers congregate around the helpless creature.
In an effort to address these issues, Berkshire HathawayAnd Amazon.com Inc.And c. B. Morgan Chase They joined forces to found Haven Healthcare, a venture that failed to achieve its goals despite their combined efforts.
Some startups have seen success where they failed. iRemedyFor example, it is a startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which offers a solution to the challenges of the healthcare system through its large procurement market. Its platform streamlines the supply chain, allowing faster and more affordable access to life-saving supplies for doctors, hospitals, and healthcare providers.
Munger, vice president of Berkshire Hathaway, has criticized the high costs and inefficiencies in Medicare as expensive and wrong. In an interview with CNBC, he went on to claim that some medical providers are artificially prolonging death to increase their profits.
With more than 35 years of experience as chair of the board of directors of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, Munger has expressed his belief that some health care practices are inconsequential.
“A lot of our medical care is wrong — expensive and wrong. It’s ridiculous,” he said in an interview with “Squawk Box.”
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In 2018, Munger predicted that when Democrats control all three branches of government, there will be pressure for a single-payer healthcare system. He stressed the need for complete change imposed by the government due to the seriousness of the issues in the current system. He suggested that a universal healthcare system with an opt-out option would be a reasonable solution.
Warren Buffett, Munger’s longtime investment partner, shares similar concerns regarding healthcare spending, referring to it as “a tapeworm on the economic system.” Buffett believes that the private sector can make significant contributions to cost-cutting efforts.
His last investigation Kaiser Health News-NPR Shedding light on the troubling reality of medical debt in the United States. The study revealed that more than 100 million Americans are saddled with medical debt, which puts a huge financial strain on their lives. Further analysis of the data reveals that nearly a quarter of American adults with this debt owe more than $5,000.
What makes this case even more troubling is the fact that it is not primarily motivated by a lack of insurance coverage. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of people with medical debt are not uninsured. Instead, the problem of lack of insurance is prevalent. Many people have health insurance plans that don’t offer adequate coverage, leaving them vulnerable to high out-of-pocket expenses and accumulating medical debt.
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