People need to get mad

I want kids. Not now, but maybe someday. I wanted to put that out there since it might make me a little biased for what I'm going to write.

I'm mad. I'm frustrated. I'm most of all sad.

The last couple of days I've been working on a report that compares hospital data across California. I'll limit this post to four factors.
Cost - Cost for the hospital (staff, equipment, etc.)
Charge - How much someone is charged for services rendered (whether it's billing the insurance company and/or the person)
ALOS - Average Length of Stay (for the person staying in the hospital)
Discharge - Number of cases seen

In California (2009), rough figures put the average case for a children's hospital charges $8000 a day, with an average of 5 days stayed, which comes out to a whopping $40,000 a year. (I don't want to mention how much it costs actual hospitals)

We need to keep in mind that:
1.) A children's hospital isn't just for normal newborns. These are specialized children's hospitals that treat the most severe cases. Costs and charges are expected to be higher.
2.) We're also looking at the average cost/charge/length of stay when the median is probably a better indicator.
3.) Insurance may cover some/most of the costs.

Most likely insurance will only cover a partial amount and if they do, I'm sure they'll fight tooth and nail for every penny. Even if they don't, how do normal people afford the rest?

You take out a loan and setup a payment plan while some guy is gaming the healthcare and insurance system? If it's not the financial market, its the healthcare market or some other market. It just seems like the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

The people representing us in Congress have net worths starting in the millions. They don't have my interests at heart. When will people get mad and say enough is enough?