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Health Costs - US vs ...
- Thread starter What Would Jesus Do?
- Start date
Many in those countries supplement with private insurance. I could be mistaken, though.
If true, curious what those expenditures amount to.
If true, curious what those expenditures amount to.
Data from CIA Factbook. And yes, we are the WORST on these measures.
| Country | Infant Mortality / 1000 | Life Expectancy |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 5.12 | 80.75 |
| Germany | 3.14 | 81.72 |
| Sweden | 2.28 | 82.8 |
| France | 3.10 | 82.79 |
| Canada | 4.31 | 83.99 |
| Australia | 2.96 | 83.28 |
| UK | 3.79 | 82.05 |
| Japan | 1.88 | 85.0 |
I hesitate to make this political, but this SHOULD be a political question.
Why would anyone vote for leaders who double the infant mortality risk and shorten our lives by 3 years?
Of course we are NOT voting for those things. But WHY NOT?
Why would anyone vote for leaders who double the infant mortality risk and shorten our lives by 3 years?
Of course we are NOT voting for those things. But WHY NOT?
I had a similar experience as Tom. My Dr diagnosed me with something, gave me something to treat it- and insurance denied the claim. I gave up on it, just pay out of pocket
Thanks, this isn't terribly surprising to me, disappointing, but not shocking, I wonder how much responsibility for this falls on the FDA versus big pharma... Seems like we have a lot more processed foods than these other countries.
We can’t figure out what the rest of the first world has.
Just so there is enough money in the system so Scott can defraud Medicare for profit, things will be sound as a pound.
Just so there is enough money in the system so Scott can defraud Medicare for profit, things will be sound as a pound.
Today I had to do a peer to peer to overturn a denial. A private insurer didn't think a patient in their mid 80s with a pelvic fracture and could barely stand up needed rehab. Thought they should just go home without any help or therapy.
This is not an uncommon occurrence.
Apologies to our resident physicians, but everyone in the industry needs to take a haircut to get costs back under control. Hospitals, pharma, med device, suppliers, and yes, physicians.
The problem we’ve run into lately is hospitals gobbling up practices and then you’re dealing with hospital add ons. I mentioned a son’s minor broken arm that cost us close to $1,000. Try finding a pediatric ortho place that’s not part of a hospital. We couldn’t.
One other recent example for me, a routine imaging test I need every year. Used to have it done at my doctors’ office and paid the regular specialist copay around $75. No biggie. Then the hospital bought the practice so now I had to go to the hospital to get the imaging test done. More of a hassle but still billed me normally ($75 or so).
A few months ago I show up at the hospital and they tell me me my patient responsibility was $1,950. I said GTFO and walked out. Found one of the remaining independent practices that could do the imaging test and paid $65. $1,950 at the hospital vs $65 in a physician’s office - exact same test. That’s ****ed up.
The problem we’ve run into lately is hospitals gobbling up practices and then you’re dealing with hospital add ons. I mentioned a son’s minor broken arm that cost us close to $1,000. Try finding a pediatric ortho place that’s not part of a hospital. We couldn’t.
One other recent example for me, a routine imaging test I need every year. Used to have it done at my doctors’ office and paid the regular specialist copay around $75. No biggie. Then the hospital bought the practice so now I had to go to the hospital to get the imaging test done. More of a hassle but still billed me normally ($75 or so).
A few months ago I show up at the hospital and they tell me me my patient responsibility was $1,950. I said GTFO and walked out. Found one of the remaining independent practices that could do the imaging test and paid $65. $1,950 at the hospital vs $65 in a physician’s office - exact same test. That’s ****ed up.
The three story glass atrium with curved windows is stunning in the morning with the helicopter perched on top.
Your premiums paid for that lobby
Agree with much of this. Surgical specialists in particular could take a cut. We pay for procedures in this country, rather than for primary care docs and preventative care. PCPs make 20% or less than what many surgical specialists make.
I also don't understand why a test costs x as an inpatient, y as an outpatient. And that's not including the pricing differences based on the insurance company.
But most of the excess costs is related to the useless middlemen, administration, and their counterparts at the private insurance companies.
Every specialist I know is loaded. Luxury cars, massive homes, consulting gigs, etc. Millionaires many times over, and if they own their own practices they are rolling in it.
I also know PCPs who don’t make jack squat compared to their education and value.
One reason why a national health service is better - for people and states.
Yep. And I should have said 20% of what the specialists make. Not 20% less. Many PCPs are pulling low to mid 200s when many proceduralist can pull in over a million easily.
Wow, I had read someplace that they were having trouble getting doctors out of med school to become PCP's and that all of them wanted to be specialists.
With a pay difference that big, it's no wonder they are having trouble getting PCP's.
Everything in this country is designed to keep us indebted to the corporate state. Have you noticed the push around the country the last few years to eliminate independent contractors and force them to become employees? Same goal.
A dependent class makes for cheap and reliable labor.
Thanks. Some very interesting comparisons there.
Check out the "self-reported health" numbers for different countries, for example.
We Americans take pride in our rugged individualism - and report much more satisfaction with our health - despite objective measure showing most of us to be fatter and sicker. Of course I'm just guessing on the rugged individualism explanation. Could be other factors.
First thing I noticed and it made me lol.
When asked "How is your health in general?" 88% of people in the United States reported to be in good health, much more than the OECD average of 68% and one of the highest scores across the OECD.
Yeah. We have a complicated history here. Labor fought hard to get health care - against brutal and dishonest corporate power. See The Big Myth to learn more.
Then when Obamacare or Bernie's Medicare for All tried to get health care for everybody, the most successful unions didn't want to let go of their hard won gains. Really can't blame them. But they need to get on board if ALL Americans are going to get good health care.
Then you would be bitching that hospital lobbies looked like a shithole.
Your premiums paid for that lobby
You want to lower health care costs. Stop going into McDonalds and Kwik Star and start hitting the gym. It’s really simple.
I've worked in hospitals from 1971 to 2017. In 1971 I worked for a 600+ bed hospital that had a lobby that was smaller than a typical living room. The hospital that I worked in in 2017 had a larger lobby but still modest.
During my later years, my hospital became a part of a large hospital system where the parent or flagship institution had large extravagant lobbies. Department in the hospital had lobbies larger than my hospital's main and only lobby.
I'll say! Our ROI on medical expenditures compared to other OECD nations is far worse by a much larger degree. We're paying Rolls Royce level insurance rates for Yugo level health outcomes.
- The U.S. spends more on health care as a share of the economy — nearly twice as much as the average OECD country — yet has the lowest life expectancy and highest suicide rates among the 11 nations.
So you are in favor of employers underwriting employees for health insurance? 5 metabolic factors. Stay in range, or pay more.
1.) Abdominal obesity
2) High blood pressure
3) Impaired fasting glucose
4) High triglyceride levels
5) Low HDL cholesterol levels
All I know is if you’re a fat tub of lard a hospital should be able to refuse care.
One of the managed plans, yes. They're all awful in their own special way.
My supplemental pays for the health club near me. Thanks to COVID, I haven't benefited much.
When it starts to take precedent over emphasizing the long term health ramifications of childhood obesity I agree it isn’t “woke”….it’s just plain stupid and detrimental to kid’s health.
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And want us to work to older ages.
$900 for the 30 days of my med? Nope. Again, something the wealthy don’t have to think twice about.
I know a guy who is easily 150 pounds overweight and drinks at least 12 diet cokes a day who would call himself healthy.
The idea that people get super rich without ever seeing a patient is so immoral
Not exactly comparing apples to apples. How does the US white population compare to the top 6…. Which are a lot more white. I know the black population has a higher infant mortality rate and lower life expectancy.
