Americans pay, on average, about four times as much for a hip replacement as patients in Switzerland or France and more than three times as much for a Caesarean section as those in New Zealand or Britain. […] The costs of hospital stays here are about triple those in other developed countries, even though they last no longer, according to a recent report by the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that studies health policy.
[…]
Colonoscopies offer a compelling case study. They are the most expensive screening test that healthy Americans routinely undergo — and often cost more than childbirth or an appendectomy in most other developed countries. […] The high price paid for colonoscopies mostly results not from top-notch patient care, according to interviews with health care experts and economists, but from business plans seeking to maximize revenue; haggling between hospitals and insurers that have no relation to the actual costs of performing the procedure; and lobbying, marketing and turf battles among specialists that increase patient fees.
“Tick/Tock until the system breaks of its own weight and we usher in rational SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Just the way most services of import should be provided.”
What other services do you have in mind blowbo?
The government sure has a great record running things. Lets put doctors in a public sector union too so they will be sure to earn minimum wage.
Fair question given your strongly implied surrender on the issue of healthcare.
Certainly education.
Certainly retirement income security.
Criminal Justice.
Aviation.
Food Safety.
Environmental Safety and Health.
The full safety net of minimal (SURE to be abused, but meant to be minimal: food, shelter).
Full service eugenics program on a voluntary basis.
………so many more.
The KEY is to integrate enough regulation to provide a fair, level, playing field. THEN allow the greed of the private market to work its magic.
Simple.
No surprise . The term ‘healthcare’ is an oxymoron in this country. Our system is about maximizing profits on ‘sick care’. That’s where the money is.
When you’re sick or dying, you don’t do much shopping. The sheeple are trained to believe this is the best solution for society.
So I guess a most part of the problem is doctors, etc. making a large amount of money. So what! Are you jealous? Hell I would like to be rich. We can make a lot of improvements to healthcare without channeling Hugo Chávez.
Quit trying to turn this country into France. You probably cried when the USSR fell apart.
Nextli–close. I don’t care how much money docs make UNTIL it affects the care they (don’t) provide.
Notice they money to docs flows from the monopoly they hold.
Try to keep up.
Bahhh.. Bahhhh. American healthcare is just fine, American healthcare is just fine. Bahhh , Bahhh
You think it is expensive now wait until it is free.
Pedro–who ever said “Let’s adopt the Healthcare System EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE THEY USE ON……the Canary Islands.”
No one.
The first “real” job I ever had was cleaning up chicken shit under a poultry house for 8 hours on Sat and Sun. Life went downhill from there and now I find myself responding to you.
Silly Hoomans. Can think worth shit……. and I know what I’m shoveling.
Yea, verily.
Hmm…I can see I read your earlier post too fast.
““In the US, private health’s paradise, personal & familiar health expenses to care for grave illnesses is the number cause of poverty” (and here I was thinking it was getting in debt to get the latest plastic and “i” toys and getting the credit cards to the max, silly me) “due to the need to sell their properties and get into debt until bankruptcy to pay for their assistance”
Huge BS in that statement aside, is it better then not to care for the patients so the families can enjoy the defunct’s “riches” as if it was a lottery?
///////////// Its hard to tell what you really think Pedro, or why, such are your communication skills. Tripping on the ironic, or a translation or idiosyncratic error I can’t tell.
Correct me if I’m wrong: you think Healthcare System in the USA is just fine and the complaints of 40 Million people not having any coverage at all (ER doesn’t count) and the main cause of personal bankruptcy being health expenses are either not true or are what makes our system so wonderful.
Yes or No?—Quibble? But in all cases, please stop the BS of your personal experiences as lived by your close friends.
I was going to suggest “separation of medicine and state” but I know you guys aren’t ready for that and won’t be until you’ve suffered enough.
Maybe next year.
So how about: “Those who pay choose”?
Weaken the doctors’ monopoly. Since liberals will not allow such a thing as allowing unlicensed practice of medicine, and would probably vomit at the thought of a clinic at every Walmart, let’s try a different tactic. Allow Canadian doctors to practice in the US without doing a residency again.
This story is a setup for a larger campaign to have the government set the prices, and ration the care, declaring certain screenings as unnecessary. They’ve already done this with mammograms and prostrate screenings.
Having more catastrophic health care plans would help, as then insurance would operate as just that, insurance, not the payer for every health care expense. If insurance companies had to pay for gas fillups, gas would be $20 a gallon.
Instead, ObamaCare is raising the premiums on those plans and making the best ones go away.
The thing whoever wrote this missed is that dogs can often get the same procedures done much faster and cheaper than humans. In fact at many locations dogs can get more advanced care in much less time for much less money. In many locations the waiting time before you get treated is a common cause of death. Your cancer may become untreatable in six months to a year. It is a simple fact that many of the treatments offered are antiqued and the medical equipment is a generation or more out of date.
You may be denied treatment for odd reasons such as they expect you do die at some point anyone so no hip surgery for you even though this will result in your being bed fast or limited to a wheelchair and of course you will die sooner because of that or you drove to far thus creating CO2 but the 18 yr old does get a boob job to enhance her self worth. In Britain if you are a senior and the Dr. decides you will die in three days they admit you but don’t provide services and that includes basics like food and water. If you are still alive in three days they re evaluate you by which time you certainly will die in three days with no food and water.
Of course it is true that a lot of Brits are happy with their “free” medical care but its also true that the ones who are the happiest are the ones that make the least use of it.
Yes, frequently vision and dental are not covered by insurance, allowing for a whole new tooth for just $1000 or less. If dental visits were more handled by insurance, the charges would be much higher and Lasik would be 100k or nonexistent