Well, we are about 1/20th of the way there now. Next step, let medicare haggle for prices. Or if republicans are in charge - that doctor safe zone measure (I actually liked that idea - am shocked)
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Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us - Time Magazine
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Well, we are about 1/20th of the way there now. Next step, let medicare haggle for prices. Or if republicans are in charge - that doctor safe zone measure (I actually liked that idea - am shocked)
Learn2read
Member
Just saw the author give a great interview on Thursday's The Daily Show. Jon Stewart was beside himself gushing over the article.
He really nailed home how THERE IS NO HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE. PEOPLE ARE INVOLUNTARY ENTRANTS AND HAVE NO BUYING POWER.
He really nailed home how THERE IS NO HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE. PEOPLE ARE INVOLUNTARY ENTRANTS AND HAVE NO BUYING POWER.
HollovVpo1nt
Banned
And then do what?
Revengeance
Member
I used to work as a title searcher, and behind every foreclosure there was almost invariably a lien by a hospital or doctor's group for some outrageous, impossible amount of money.
Americans with inadequate insurance, or who can't afford insurance are basically playing a reverse lottery every day, where simple misfortune can absolutely ruin them.
It's unconscionable.
Excellent article, by the way.
Americans with inadequate insurance, or who can't afford insurance are basically playing a reverse lottery every day, where simple misfortune can absolutely ruin them.
It's unconscionable.
Excellent article, by the way.
I'm baffled with some bills posted here, running thousands of dollars for simple treatments/exams.
In Portugal you have Universal Health System which you pay by taxes but you also pay some money for consultations and staying at hospital among other things (small values and if you are poor, less to none).
You have also private system which you can go and pay, either with a private insurance plan, or from you pocket.
I see in one of the private hospitals around (a well known one), even if you don't have any insurance, you can go there fora cesarean birth and will cost you, without any insurance money, between 5000€-6000€ plus nights. For reference, minimum wage here is 485€/month.
In Portugal you have Universal Health System which you pay by taxes but you also pay some money for consultations and staying at hospital among other things (small values and if you are poor, less to none).
You have also private system which you can go and pay, either with a private insurance plan, or from you pocket.
I see in one of the private hospitals around (a well known one), even if you don't have any insurance, you can go there fora cesarean birth and will cost you, without any insurance money, between 5000€-6000€ plus nights. For reference, minimum wage here is 485€/month.
soul creator
Member
No. I'm not sure you even know what "single payor" means. Single payor literally means one payor. Private health insurance companies are payors. Of you have them, it's not a single payor system.
User 100115
Banned
Same here. I read it anyway. Maybe this will spur the general public to stop being stupid and freaking out about death panels and start pressing for a healthcare system that works.
Aquavelvaman
Banned
Great article. I hope a lot of people take the time to read it.
Phoenician_Viking
Banned
Corruption, theft in the middle of the day, and no one is calling them on it. Ridiculous.
No one is calling them on it because everyone in America would rather call out the political party they don't like, and that party's supporters. Politics in America for the general populace isn't about problem solving. It's about winning arguments.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...alth-care-costs-isn-t-always-complicated.html
Looks like its gaining some traction from more business oriented sites as well. Though it does completely miss the point in the last paragraph, but hey, gotta throw those free market people a bone i guess
Looks like its gaining some traction from more business oriented sites as well. Though it does completely miss the point in the last paragraph, but hey, gotta throw those free market people a bone i guess
Antiochus
Member
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.c...re-opus-jumped-from-the-new-republic-to-time/
Fascinating the piece was originally set to appear on The New Republic. When they didn't put it on their inaugural issue of the year, it was shopped at the Atlantic, NY Times, and the New Yorker. Perhaps they simply did not see the Pulitzer Prize caliber of this story.
Fascinating the piece was originally set to appear on The New Republic. When they didn't put it on their inaugural issue of the year, it was shopped at the Atlantic, NY Times, and the New Yorker. Perhaps they simply did not see the Pulitzer Prize caliber of this story.
It can be a bit more nuanced then that. The Canadian system is pretty generally regarded as single payer and it is in that the services that each province has decided to provide medically it's the provincial government that takes care of paying the fee.
HOWEVER
1) For services not covered (drugs, private or semi-private rooms for example) private insurance is around or the patient pays.
2) Doctors that decide not to work in the public system can be private and can do whatever the hell they feel like.
The system itself is single payer but it's not all encompassing and people can work outside of it if they so chose.
In other words, private insurance is a niche market at most in a single payor system. So the overall point still stands that private insurance companies in America lobby and fight tooth and nail to prevent single payor, since it would at most put them out of business, and at the minimum reduce them to a shadow of what they are now.
Therefore, it's misleading and counterproductive for Charlie Digital to call it a "false dichotomy" between single payor and private insurance when another poster was saying private insurance in America is lobbying to make sure we don't get single payor. They ARE lobbying as hard as they can against single payor. Single payor would either put them out of business or reduce them to a niche market. All you did was outline the niche market possibility. That doesn't change the overall big picture.
With the Mayo Clinic's proposed gigantic expansion, I was curious how much the CEO made and how much profit they took in. Well, the first thing I found was a bit more positive
http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2008/10/what-makes-minn/
Read a few more articles and found that Mayo charges more for Insured and un-insured patients than other Minnesota hospitals, boo. Though I guess that doesnt tell the whole story since they might not order 3 Cat scans, draw 10 vials of blood, and charge you for your robe. Guess an average cost per patient - insured, un-insured, and medicare, would be the best indicator
http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2008/10/what-makes-minn/
Read a few more articles and found that Mayo charges more for Insured and un-insured patients than other Minnesota hospitals, boo. Though I guess that doesnt tell the whole story since they might not order 3 Cat scans, draw 10 vials of blood, and charge you for your robe. Guess an average cost per patient - insured, un-insured, and medicare, would be the best indicator
I couldn't stop reading this article until the end. I knew a lot of the general facts, but seeing actual numbers and their effects was like standing above a bottomless pit. Vertigo.
Indeed.
Indeed.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di...t-friday-roundtable-medical-costs?rsssource=1
Minnesota Public Radio did an excellent segment on the article. They told 3 doctors to read the article and share their opinions. Its quite interesting. Highly recommended if you read and enjoyed the original article
One of the doctors didnt even know about the charge master. What a fucked up system...
Minnesota Public Radio did an excellent segment on the article. They told 3 doctors to read the article and share their opinions. Its quite interesting. Highly recommended if you read and enjoyed the original article
One of the doctors didnt even know about the charge master. What a fucked up system...
afreaknamedpete
Member
That one doctor that keeps referencing his "friend" about pricing really shows how big of the information disconnect is. Asking doctors about how the pricing is organized is like asking a private about military strategy. I'd be extremely interested to hear a response from upper management, CEOs or the billing offices, but I get the sense that these are the individuals who are least likely to speak up.
Yea, my favorite part was when the woman doctor said that she is constantly embarrassed when she can't tell her patients the cost of a procedure because she simply doesnt know and is unable to find out.
If that doesnt sound like a free market, i dont know what is
Planet Money talks to Steven Brill
Highlight for me was that a doctor sent him an email after his article was published. It was a copy of an email the doctor received from an administrator saying that over the past month the doctor hasnt been ordering enough of this one test and he better get that up
Highlight for me was that a doctor sent him an email after his article was published. It was a copy of an email the doctor received from an administrator saying that over the past month the doctor hasnt been ordering enough of this one test and he better get that up
I can't believe my crappy country has a better health system. This is the government hospital in mi city (there are 5 other hospitals but they are private).
You get sick, you go the doctor. Then you get X-Rays, an echosonogram, a cast... anything you need. How much do they charge? Nothing.
The doctor gave you medication? You can take the prescription to the hospital's pharmacy and get all the medication for free.
You get sick, you go the doctor. Then you get X-Rays, an echosonogram, a cast... anything you need. How much do they charge? Nothing.
The doctor gave you medication? You can take the prescription to the hospital's pharmacy and get all the medication for free.
This is an article from an American:
http://www.fredoneverything.net/00Uncle Fred's Mexico/UFM Columns/MexicanMedicine.shtml
http://www.fredoneverything.net/00Uncle Fred's Mexico/UFM Columns/MexicanMedicine.shtml
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