How the Market Can Cure the Health Care Crisis w/Dr. Keith Smith!

Welcome to Capital Account. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney raised eyebrows yesterday when he said he would "not get rid of all of healthcare reform." Romney's statement made headline news because it differed from his previous rhetoric of "repealing ObamaCare." We would rather hear politicians explain the real reasons for why a trip to the ER for a headache can amount to a bill of $10,000. Could it be that healthcare isn't actually that expensive? Over the years healthcare costs in the US have increased from 5% of GDP in the 60s to 17.4% in 2009, according to an OECD report published in 2011. A recent report from the Institute of Medicine calculated systemic waste in the US healthcare system at $765 billion, representing 30% of total expenditures. We ask Doctor Keith Smith, Managing Partner and Medical Director for the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, about the role of insurance companies, wasteful administration costs, and hospital inefficiencies. Keith Smith runs an independent surgical clinic and brings free market competitive prices to surgery. He offers customers lower prices and patients fly in from all over the world, even from countries with universal healthcare systems, to get surgery at his center. And in today's "Loose Change," Lauren and Demetri discuss former Reagan Budget Director, David Stockman, recent appearance on CNBC. Specifically, Stockman's comment that "Ron Paul is the only one who is right about the Fed, and the Fed is the heart of the problem." Indeed!