"Sicko" on TV Tonight

Hhhmmmmmmmm ....

:evil:

 

So is it the health care, or the system that is referred to? Reason I ask is because the US has the best health care worldwide, in case you haven't noticed all those from other countries that come here to have procedures done, including those from Canada. The system however, is broken, or is it, if it never worked right from the beginning, is it actually broken, or just poorly implemented?

Here is how health care works. Those with lots of money fall into the top 10% of those who can afford it, on a sliding scale are those who have health care of various means, roughly 45%, then there are the people under government health care, separate from everyone else, roughly 25%, leaving 25% with no health care. The goal is to bring those 25% into health care, which will in turn reduce the amount of health care being provided to the 45% who currently have health care, but the 10%, the rich, will still get the same amount of health care along with the government workers.

The thing here is, no matter what is done with health care, the rich and powerful will still get the same care they get now, and don't care what the rest get. It's a fine line to cross, how far are we, the 45% currently on a decent health care plan willing to go so that everyone gets health care coverage?

In addition, how will they extend out the health care, will illegal immigrants still get the free health care they get now? Are those who do not work and do not pay any taxes be allowed to benefit off of those who pay into taxes and health care? How will insurance companies react if the the government can provide(yeah right) a low cost way to provide health care for everyone? Those of us who currently have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and pay for half the costs of the policy know that when we go into a doctors office and some tests or surgery needs to be done, it gets done, we aren't put on a waiting list. Will that change under a government sponsored health plan?
My Mother just had surgery 2 weeks ago, she has supplementary insurance via Blue Cross in addition to the Medicare. Her stomach was half in her chest causing her great amounts of pain. Thankfully she didn't have to wait too long to get the surgery. Having the Blue Cross helped her get the surgery done, without it, she would still be waiting. Is this something all of us will have to look forward to, waiting for surgery or other care, if the government forces changes similar to what other countries have?

Don't know, patient-ly waiting.

 

Really. I haven't been able to find any statistics on that. But it must be true, right? There may be some rich Canadians coming south to get medical care that isn't considered likely to be effective (do Americans sometimes go to Mexico for the same reason?). There may be some illegals from Mexico getting medical care here but most still return to Mexico where they can see a doctor for $10 and get American-made medication for 80% less through their national health insurance.

Actually, if you have government health benefits and you go to the hospital for a kidney stone it can cost you from $600 to $2700, depending on whether the hospital and all of the doctors are "Preferred Providers." Ask my mom. In 2006 it was $600. This year it was $2700. Same emergency room. Much less complicated resolution.

The private insurers like BC/BS are frightened of the government option not because it will be cheaper, which it won't be. They're worried that the government option will actually pay for what is necessary, not just what the insurer can't get out of paying.

Mom's biopsy in April still hasn't been paid for by BC/BS because the non-preferred provider won't write the essay to explain why it was necessary (stage IV lung cancer was the diagnosis). I hope your mother has better luck with BC/BS, acdii. Of course the provider was told that Mom didn't have Medicare other than hospital charges but they billed Medicare anyway since Medicare pays twice as much (so say the doctor's billers).

And there are lots of people who wait weeks and months for approvals (usually after pro-forma denials) of surgery. In the government plan, the HMOs usually don't authorize any elective surgeries within a couple of months of open season (during which the patient decides to switch over to another plan).

 

Just a couple of points based on your post.

1. The people who come from other countries to get healthcare here don't have to worry about their insurance company denying them a procedure. They might well be getting better healthcare than those who live and are insured here. When the prime minister of blah de blah or the shah of whatever comes here for a procedure, they will get what their money can buy, because our system is for profit.

2. The US is no longer as popular a destination for healthcare as it used to be. Excellent care is also available in many Asian countries, for example, and it's cheaper.

3. Despite 'the best healthcare in the world,' the US has slipped in parameters such as longevity, infant mortality, and other key measures. So if we still have 'the best healthcare' in some sense (and I do think we do in some ways) it is not being utilized or deployed properly.

Considering how much money is spent per capita in the US on healthcare, it seems like we should be able to have some degree of universal coverage for everybody.

 

As a Canuck who *can* afford to bypass lines and red tape, I like having the option of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, being fairly easy for me to get to.

Mayo has a direct local number in Winnipeg for folks to call and make an appointment. Last time I checked, hospitals like Misercordia, St Boniface, Health Sciences Centre, didn't have direct access numbers in Minneapolis or Rochester, MN

I don't think any country on the planet has a "perfect" health care system. Countries have collectively screwed the pooch by failing to account for one simple little fact: we're living a lot longer than we used to

By living so long, we tend to require medical care at a certain point. Such as procedures to fix a gimpy bladder or prostate. Meds for blood pressure or heart rhythm disfunction. Replacement knees and hips

This should have been predictible. With advances in medicine, combined with safe water and sewage treatment, we're not dropping dead of cholera, typhus, menningitis, etc.

Most of us have also become urban dwellers. No longer is 50% of the population involved in food production and back-breaking labor

But all of this comes at a pretty steep price. Since individuals appear unwilling or unable to become involved in the decision making process (Our vote is nothing more than a proxy, so we as individuals don't have to deal with messy little details), literally a handful decide the direction of our health care, elderly care, etc

I have yet to hear a cogent analysis of what our near and far term risks are, and possible solutions.

 

for certain procedures, sure maybe. but when you have foreign trained doctors coming here only because they can make 100 times more money here because they have a skill set that less than 1% of the trained medical field possesses, exactly how does that make the other 99.999998% of the American Health Care System better?