The American Health System is one of the worst in the world
 

Wow, even if you have a good health insurance, which is DAMN expensive, you need to PAY EXTRA FEES for a lot of things!!!!! CRAZY!!??? In what kind of decent country do you have that kind of SICKO health system???

Even in CUBA, it is better! And in any decent country you pay a monthly fee and you have almost everything covered.

You must be rich to have a DECENT life in USA! It must be one of the most profitables business in USA.

i pay 300/mo for my wifes health insurance and a few months back she had a procedure done that first involved a trip to the ER... the total bill was $15k... The ER visit was 5k and all she had done was some ultrasounds and blood work. The procedure (took literally 30mins from start to finish) was 10k.

The best part is we're left paying 1500 bucks... If I'm paying 300/mo for insurance that NEVER gets used why the fuck doesn't the shit cover everything?

The system is pretty fucked up. Not even sure where to start to fix it.

I just read an article on CNN about a guy who lost his job and had to become a pizza delivery driver. His wife had like 40k in medical bills from a bout with pneumonia and tonsilitis. We aren't talking about anything serious like cancer either and it was 40k.

system of cash

my testicle surgery cost around 78k give or take insurance covered 77k of it give or take

Take it out of the hands of the greedy private insurance companies. :2 cents:

Instead of JD paying $300 a month, he could be paying $50 - $100 in extra taxes and have universal health care take care of everything.

But no, that would be an evil socialist thing to do.

You must have never been to Cuba before if you really believe that. Cuba has one of the worst health care systems in the world. One of the problems why health care is so expensive her is because of to many lawsuits that drive up the cost.

We need tort reform here big time, we also need to curb excessive payouts for example, an asprin for $25.00 is a joke!. I will tell you this though, that every major leader who is in need of skilled medical care for surgery comes here.

They don't go to Cuba or Canada or even the UK, why is that?. It is because we have the best hospitals and doctors plain and simple. We as I said need to curb a lot of these high cost, but as I said we have to take care of tort reform.

Just ask any doctor what they have to pay a month just for their insurance, it will scare you. This also is a reason for the high cost of health care. If you need a major operation, i can guarantee you that you will want to have that done here in the US:2 cents:

Not me, hell no. I'll stay here in Canada, thanks.

I had a workers comp claim through one of my restaurants a chef cut her finger and as it was Sunday so she drove to emergency. She saw a nurse who glued the cut with cyanoacrylate (super glue ) a tetanus injection 5 minutes total, bang thanks thats $1500.00 When I called them to ask why they wanted to blackmail the insurance company they said they charge this amount because people dont pay their bills!!! "What a fucking surprise" !!!:error:error

I'm afraid you've been taken in by the hype. Malpractice lawsuits that range over the $1 Million mark are few and far between. Doctors pay way more than they should have to in order to get malpractice insurance. The insurance companies play the fear card and they know that they have the physicians over a barrel.

Tort reform is not the answer. A certain political party would have you think that trial lawyers everywhere are to blame for YOUR high medical costs. That's a bunch of bull. Medical malpractice isn't committed by lawyers. It's committed by doctors. A lawyer is there to represent you when you have been injured by someone who has taken an oath to "do no harm."

Healthcare costs are so astronomical because the health insurance companies will pay high prices for common procedures. How much does it cost to neuter your dog? How much does it cost to have a vasectomy? What happens is you have a vicious circle wherein the docs submit claims for higher and higher prices for each particular part of a procedure and the insurance companies keep paying.

Who ends up paying the price for all this? YOU! The consumer.

There is a solution that is being tried here in Oklahoma. I was the legislative advocate for a new type of clinic system that charges $20 per month per head of household. That money goes to the clinic company. When a patient visits the clinic, everything he or she receives is charged at cost. The company's overhead is paid for by that $20. So, doc visits are $10, blood work is $5 (instead of the $80 to $150 charged regularly), sleep studies are $500, MRIs are $400. What's happened is the patient is actually doing business with the doctor and not some thieving insurance company. This is a solution. And it's working. It's a free market solution that is not socialistic. And the funny part is, the $20 paid by the person to the company? That's the same exact amount the state pays a doc monthly for each MedicAid patient that is assigned to that doc. So quite frankly, it could get a lot of people off Medicaid.

Sorry so long, but this is a subject about which I am very passionate.

SG

WTF dude??? That's insane!

You must be doing like 30K in this business.. What are your secrets? Just blogs?

I wonder what would you do, if you were only doing 3k per month like the average webmaster?

yawn. poking at the usa with a stick re: healthcare is old news on gfy. just stay in your country making moneys from u.s., if you do.

i think US is not the worst one...

One of the top reasons I'm grateful to live in Canada

It's so high so they can make a shitload of money from exploiting the only method of medical help.

The US has the best health care system in the world. But, you overburden it with 12 million illegal aliens who cannot afford $0.10, and guess what? It breaks down. And, it is expensive.

Actually ANY system is better than no system at all. There's something for the optimists.

That is not 100% true. I was hospitalized in Havana with phenomena for almost a week. Besides from the rooms being old, the staff was amazing and they were on me 24/7. Besides a few hospitals in Thailand, I have never been so taken care of in all my life. I don't remember the final exact bill but was only a few hundred bucks. Incredible care. Though I will admit the place was a bit worn down, but my care was incredible.

The bigger problem the Cubans have is not having access to proper medicine in the smaller towns. Cuba makes a lot of it's own but are always being nailed for creating generic drugs the same as Africa does. The USA and EU puts the fucking screws to both of those countries when it comes to pharmaceuticals and in turn maybe people go untreated and even die because of this greed. But for sure there is no shortage of well trained doctors in Cuba. Castro even offered them to the Katrina victims but the USA declined their offer. The United States is a pompous prick. We couldn't even deal with Katrina ourselves and we turned away some of the best doctors in the world over political bullshit that has been going on since JFK was in office. Pathetic.

Everyone loves to use the excuse of lawsuits as the main reason. The idea behind that is if you get rid of the lawsuits the big coprations will have even more profits at less risk. They damn sure wouldn't drop the prices.

Look at medications for example to this. I have a prescription for a med that cost me around $160 dollars per refill, here in the US. I can order the exact same medicane online made by the same fucking company for under $40 USD buying it from a country out side the US.

Now you tell me where lawsuits have anything at all to do with that. It's simple greed and the big Pharm's get away with because they can. That's the same reason medical insurance is so high, because they can get away charging that much.

Hospitals charge $25 for a asprin because they have to fight tooth and nail to get payment for services done out of the insurance companies. That and to make up for all the no pays that have no insurance.

i love canada

i had blood work done, xray's, cat scan, a MRI, and stayed in the hospital for 5 days, and paid nothing.

The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems.
1-29
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba

40-190
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

I have a couple of prescriptions; generic, blood pressure whatnots. And when I go pick them up from Safeway in Colorado I can either:
1. Show my insurance card and get a one-month refill for both at $20
or
2. Somehow, which is beyond any logic or reasoning, I can say, "I don't want to use insurance" (which the pharmacist recommended one day) and get a 3-month supply of both for $20.

I don't know how to explain it. I don't want to try. I should probably send my general practitioner a huge bottle of something for hooking me up on a generic med.

You have some crappy insurance. She passed out twice one Sunday morning - Just passed out, fell over, and banged her head on the floor. She has a heart problem that's never bothered her before, off to the ER we went, CAT scan, full night in the hospital - cost us all of $15.

It'd be cool if you'd explain your health insurance plan, other than just calling the OP's one "crappy" and throwing down some random story of your own.

Just saying...

Some people read and some people don't, we have a major problem here. I still will take my health care here in the US than anywhere else. You don't have to wait six months or a year to go to the hospital where are friends up north have to.

I will find his name, but the father of Canada's health care is now against it. It does not work. How many people come down from Canada and go to a DR in say Detroit? or any other city close to them?. Not many Americans go there, we have to many people here that is overburdening our system here.

If you look at what illegal immigration has to done our emergency hospitals here is pitiful. We have had so many hospitals close because of this problem. I agree that there are so many people that do not pay and this causes our medical insurance to increase from this.

As more of our elderly live longer this also strains the system. I know of more DR'S that are not going to except government payment, because the government is not paying them. This is not really a left or a right issue, we have to have better health care and more cost effective as well.

Think about this though, as more people live longer the more the drug companies will make. If you are on a medication for over 20 years why would medications come down in price?. It is a goldmine that they have, but something right will have to happen to make sure we can curb some of these abuses.

moreover, the op isn't american, has never been to america and certainly never used american healthcare

Malpractice insurance is estimated between 3-7% of a doctors total revenue. In fact, it's a much smaller percent than what it was 20 years ago. So malpractice is not what is driving up costs.

Still, the excessive lawsuits are one of the problems with the health care industry. Not the main one or the only one though. This should be fixed as well.

um... no. She's with Regence Blue Shield. It's hardly crappy insurance. My point was that the prices are INSANE for anything medical related

Edit

Never mind, we have had this argument countless times. Everyone is correct.

There's a good amount of specialists centers in the USA. So yes those places would be the best option if you're in dire need. But in most cases people don't need a specialists, when it comes to medical problems how often do you need to see a specialists? Not very often, I'm sure it's a very small percentage. It's not like specialists everywhere else suck either.

I've been to doctors and hospitals in the UK, maybe there is better specialists here in the USA but as far as everything else goes it was about the same. Oh except the fact that i didn't have to pay shit in the UK.

Talking to business it goes all that way.

health insurance is a joke and as much as a scam as car insurance is.

i went to the doctor three months ago and the health insurance company refuses to pay because when the girl was typing in my name, she didnt put "Jr." at the end. ive been back and forth arguing with both the doctor office and ins. company.

my health insurance went up about $40 every three months and I rarely went to the doc and dont have any prescriptions. for self employed people, they love to rip you off

The worst thing about America, is the health care system. I hope yomama is going to do something about it :)

I think that is too expensive. It shouldn't cost more than $300.

They were on you 24/7? Those hot Cuban nurses?

The US has the best doctors and the best medical technology in the world. If you have money to pay for the procedure, you can have access to anything you want.

But if you don't, then you are at the mercy of your insurance company. They're only job is to maximize their profit by denying all or part of your claim for any excuse possible. Maybe if they were not-for-profit it would be better. And the same with hospitals. Unfortunately, health care in the US does not put the patient first.

Here in Canada we are okay. In fact, many Americans come to Canada to get health care for free (doctors won't refuse treatment even if they aren't getting paid).

I don't deny that Canadians are going to the US to get some procedures done and paying out-of-pocket. I also don't deny that in some parts of the country, the hospital sends some patients to the US to get procedures done because they can't handle it. The province ends up paying for the entire cost.

If you need urgent care, you will get it. If you go to a walk-in-clinic, you will wait 45 minutes because there are 20 other people with a cold waiting to see the same doctor. They will see you right away if you burned your hand, etc. Same with a hospital emergency room.

If you need emergency surgery you will get it right away. If your surgery isn't an emergency but you are in pain or it is interfering with your life (like you need a cane), then you may wait a week or two. If you need a hip replacement you will wait 2 months. But they are working on reducing the wait times with some new programs that balance the load.

Health care isn't free. It is covered by taxes + a health premium of $400 per year (paid to the government). Unless you can't afford it or are a senior, then it is free. And if you don't pay it, they won't really care. And they actually got rid of the premium starting this year because it's way easier than spending money to collect the premium and running the assistance programs.

:winkwink: i LOVE me some cuban chicas.

I won't even talk about the health system here in Brazil...

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

That is not true. Cuba has a great health care systems. And it´s free.

I'm always amused when I hear or read what you have stated in the first part of the above quote. Have you ever been on an HMO? If so then you know that you might have to wait up to a month to see your doctor if you have the flu. "Well, he has an opening in March. Will that work for you?" "NO! I'll probably be dead by then! But thanks." And you can't get your emergency room visit paid for unless you get it approved first by your PCP (Primary Care Physician). So, bottom line is you end up waiting anyway and paying monthly for the privilege.

The second part of the above quote is always a sensitive subject. Illegal immigrants are in this country and continue to come to this country. That is a fact. And the situation is not going to change overnight. Period. That being said, if we demand that a person coming into the emergency room be a citizen prior to receiving care, then we are potentially exposing the population of this country to grave peril. Let's say an illegal immigrant is showing symptoms of a bad case of the flu. He feels like crap. BUT, he won't go to the doctor because of fear of being deported. Later, these symptoms progress and he starts bleeding from various orifices. Guess what? He doesn't have the flu. He has some form of hemorrhagic fever (Marburg or Ebola) and because he wasn't diagnosed early he has just exposed a large number of people to this virulent, contagious disease. On a side note, the clinic system I described in my earlier post will take as members anyone without verifying whether or not the potential patient is a citizen. Guess what we found? The pay. They pay on time. AND, they pay the full amount. In fact, their record of payment is far better than the actual citizens. It's strange, I know. Now, does this mean that the US shouldn't address the illegal immigration situation? Of course not, but we must keep in mind the public health ramifications of denying healthcare.

The last part of the above quote is spot on. I couldn't agree with you more regarding the strain on healthcare caused by the relative good health of our population. The main problem with the system is the same problem inherent in the "trickle down economics" philosophy. It doesn't take into account one very real aspect of business: GREED.

Thanks!

SG

I've lived in the US for over 25 years, and the health care system here has never made any sense to me.

Greed is good that's what makes us work harder. We have problems here, but I would take our system than any other system. I would rather wait a month than have to wait for six months or even up to a year to have a procedure done. That is your universal health care, you can have that.

I just can't believe that in the early part of the 20TH century we had a better understanding about allowing people to enter our country. If they came in on a boat they were not allowed entry into the general population until everyone on that boat cleared inspection.

This concerns me with us not controlling our illegal immigration problem. We beat polio here and now it is on the rise again. It is from people coming from across the border, I wish we could send them all home.

Or force our friends down south to have a better health care system, good luck with that one. Is our system here 100% perfect?, no it is not. I think it is strained and that is a very big problem. Our problems will get worse as more government controls it.

The government does one thing well, print and waste more of our hard earned money. I hope that on both sides we can discuss all of the problems and work on them to improve them. I just resent as a US citizen that they allow people who are not suppose to be here get treatment before an American citizen that is a joke.

Don't even get me started about Brazil, wow that is truly an adventure having to get medical attention there if you don't have the money. it's a great country though.

Those stats are totally OBSOLETE.

Those are from year 2000.. You MUST be KIDDING.

The world has changed A LOT since 2000 and you know it.

The pharma business is one (if not the most) profitable companies in the world.

And the media wants us to believe that Coca-Cola or Microsoft are the most profitable, LOL. :)

That's not the point, dude. We are talking about normal people, like you or me.

Of course, If you are Donald Trump, you will have the best doctors in the world and you will have no problem to afford those abusive fees.

We are talking about having a Health Insurance and still have to pay extra fees for everything.

you stated u.s healthcare is one of the worst- wrong. so you think we went from 37th to one of last of 190 countries in 8 years- wrong. cuba's is better- wrong.

what country are you from? let me know and i can find several things wrong with it in a matter of seconds, from imperfect healthcare to government corruption.

fucking hypocrite, post a lame ass thread about your own country, foreigners who watch a hollywood movie then bash american healthcare has been overdone here.


so you watched a pirated version of SICKO and now you come here to bash, congrats, you're a hater based on movie.



point fingers at your own fucking country.

the us health care system is the best in the world to make profit, it is up there next the the energy sector. why do you think it is not being "fixed", too many people making mega bucks on the way it works and they are willing to pay politicians and lobbyist tons of cash to keep it that way...

generics do not always work as well and are not always that much cheaper.

LOL.. you sound like the classic republican.

Just open your eyes and take a look at how MANY AMERICANS in this very same thread are complaining about the American heath system.

Sicko. All said.