| Price of cosmetic surgery falls in last decade |
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| Thursday, 21 September 2006 | |
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For the health care system as a whole, every time patients consume $1 in services, they pay only 14 cents out of pocket. However, . Even so, the demand for cosmetic surgery exploded in recent years. Of the 10.2 million cosmetic procedures performed in 2005 that were tracked by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 1.8 million were surgical procedures. By comparison, in 1992 the American Society of Plastic Surgeons only tracked 413,208 cosmetic procedures — a fraction of those performed in 2005. One of the reasons quoted for the drop in real prices is patient behavior. When patients pay for cosmetic surgery with their own money, they are likely to be more savvy about where that money is spent. To quote the wise economist, Milton Friedman: "There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government." |
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