America Dead Last In Healthcare

[machomadness22]

The pricing is crazy, and doesn't make sense to me. I wish someone in hospital administration would explain it to me. I'd like to know. So much gets written off. If you have insurance, they write off the majority. If you are uninsured and low income then the hospital writes it off according to your income. Hospitals are desperate to get paid. In the past they have called me after surgery, once the bills come back from insurance, and offered me 40% off what I owe if I pay right then and there over the phone with credit card. I think they get stiffed a lot and they'd like to avoid turning it over to a collection agency.

Almost like everything in insurance that’s why they have adjusters I suppose when for the most part it’s like why in gods name are you charging this? It should be this. Sounds to simple to fix the pricing lol

 

[tweezor]

Very proud of our nordic countries' health care Not gonna throw shade at others, saying its bad. I rather just talk up ours. It took 5 days from when they found cancer in my mums lungs to start of cemo. And I gladly pay our taxes to have that service for everyone, for free.

 

[M@NU]

pay the same as we do in germany and you also have excellent healthcare, i can assure to you.
you cant have excellent healthcare and not expect to pay for it.
i pay 800€ for my insurane every month, no matter how often i visit a doc.

 

[pesty4077]

As long as you have health insurance you can get the best doctors. I know because I have them. I didnt have to do anything special, or be privileged by knowing someone. Im close to The Cleveland Clinic, and if I wanted I could go there and see the cardiologists. Those are probably the best in the country. Worst case scenario, I might have to pay out of network prices. Those prices arent much worse than in network really. Just a higher deductible and out of pocket. This is insurance from work.

My last procedure was about $100,000 and I paid $5000. The insurance ends up writing off a bunch too. I think the hospital collected maybe $20,000.

$5000 is still a good chunk of change for the average person. Lots of people in America can not even afford that. Some don't have insurance at all. You also forget, that is why they keep raises your taxes. Where do you think the rest of that money comes from? In other countries, they don't make you pay out of pocket with health care. That is why America is ranked badly, they still make you pay even though you have health insurance. My wife has health insurance and doesn't pay anything at all, just because she is employed. Not for a policy, doctor, specialist or hospital. Hell, they even covered me two times under her policy.

 

[Dugbet]

Very proud of our nordic countries' health care Not gonna throw shade at others, saying its bad. I rather just talk up ours. It took 5 days from when they found cancer in my mums lungs to start of cemo. And I gladly pay our taxes to have that service for everyone, for free.

Make no mistake, the Nordic countries (or Spain, where I live) are still at the service of big pharma, only that the search for profit in Europe is not as exaggerated as in the USA.

The clearest example of this is that with the pandemic, all governments, except Sweden, submitted to the dictates of the WHO (which is financed by big pharma).

What I mean is that it is great to have "free" health services, but there is no health service where the patient chooses his treatment among several options, you only have institutionalized and official medicine.

 

[Virtuous]

I dunno man, I just left the hospital a month ago after a severe liver injury (benign tumor ruptured). I had severe bleeding and almost needed a transplant. Ended up getting transported to a liver surgery specialist unit, they managed to stop the bleeding by entering my liver via artery in my wrist and shooting beads into my liver to coagulate the blood.

A month and several procedures later, I’m lifting and hiking (and banging my wife) again.

I paid $3k in total on a $270k bill.

I know for a fact I’d be dead in most countries, if they had opened me up for normal invasive surgery the doc said the blood hematoma would have ruptured and gone septic in my abdomen.

 

[hawkmoon]

Yeah, and look at Japan's national debt. 73 times greater.

Japan vs United States: Economy > Debt Facts and Stats

External, Current LCU, Gross government debt, share of GDP, Per capita, Public debt, share of GDP and 47 More Interesting Facts and Stats

www.nationmaster.com

That's due the the popped bubble of the 80-90s and an aging population.

The economy has gone sideways since, but fortunately the quality of life if high.

The aging population is a real issue though - in 4 years one out of every 3 people will be over 60.

 

[hawkmoon]

If employment weren't tied to healthcare, people would be much quicker to leave a job they hate because of pay, hours, etc. That's by design. I have heard of certain illnesses insurance companies want to deny coverage for as well. That is something I could see happening in the environment we are in.

This is certainly true for some. My old boss who is still one of my best friends was afraid to leave his job because he had/has cancer.

 

[Chigur]

Stunning new report ranks US dead last in health care among richest countries—despite spending the most

“If health care were an Olympic sport, the U.S. might not qualify in a competition with other high-income nations.”

thehill.com

Woooooooo! America! Number one for looking foolish as fuck baby!

America just keeps upping the ante on portraying itself as the most foolish cunt on the block. Might as well add this to the list.

I'd love to know everyone's thoughts.

And I'll state the obvious, please don't mention politics.

You a Pohm or a Skip?

 

[Pheedno]

I dunno man, I just left the hospital a month ago after a severe liver injury (benign tumor ruptured). I had severe bleeding and almost needed a transplant. Ended up getting transported to a liver surgery specialist unit, they managed to stop the bleeding by entering my liver via artery in my wrist and shooting beads into my liver to coagulate the blood.

A month and several procedures later, I’m lifting and hiking (and banging my wife) again.

I paid $3k in total on a $270k bill.

I know for a fact I’d be dead in most countries, if they had opened me up for normal invasive surgery the doc said the blood hematoma would have ruptured and gone septic in my abdomen.

This is a good example of how good things can be when you have the right insurance.
I have great insurance but it's pretty expensive and high deductible. I pay about $440/month and have a $7500 deductible but once that is paid the insurance pays 100% of all treatments and medications going forward with a 2 million cap. I do not need referrals to see specialists. The downside is I pretty much pay out of pocket for all my blood work/meds, etc so that adds to the yearly cost. I trade that off by driving a older car and not having a car payment and cheap auto insurance.
Quite a few of my acquaintances won't make that trade off because they "need" a newer car or they're living house poor and don't invest in the insurance.

 

[BALDNAZI]

Very proud of our nordic countries' health care Not gonna throw shade at others, saying its bad. I rather just talk up ours. It took 5 days from when they found cancer in my mums lungs to start of cemo. And I gladly pay our taxes to have that service for everyone, for free.

“For free”, that’s great. Now please tell us your tax rate, this will tell us everything.

 

[pesty4077]

“For free”, that’s great. Now please tell us your tax rate, this will tell us everything.

All those countries have a better quality of life then USA on the quality of life index. Money is only one of many factors. People are generally happier overall in these countries.

 

[maldorf]

pay the same as we do in germany and you also have excellent healthcare, i can assure to you.
you cant have excellent healthcare and not expect to pay for it.
i pay 800€ for my insurane every month, no matter how often i visit a doc.

Did you finally get the results back from your echo?

 

[maldorf]

$5000 is still a good chunk of change for the average person. Lots of people in America can not even afford that. Some don't have insurance at all. You also forget, that is why they keep raises your taxes. Where do you think the rest of that money comes from? In other countries, they don't make you pay out of pocket with health care. That is why America is ranked badly, they still make you pay even though you have health insurance. My wife has health insurance and doesn't pay anything at all, just because she is employed. Not for a policy, doctor, specialist or hospital. Hell, they even covered me two times under her policy.

The income tax paid in socialist countries is far greater than what we pay here. My family gets great bang for the buck here.

Another thing, there is a sliding scale on the back of every bill I get from the doctor/hospital. Those with low income only pay a % of the amount billed to them. The hospital writes it off. They wouldn't be paying $5000. Those that are very poor have medicaid and Heath care is taken care of that way for a much smaller fee.

Cost Sharing Out of Pocket Costs | Medicaid

Out of Pocket Costs States can impose copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and other similar charges on most Medicaid-covered benefits, both inpatient and outpatient services, and the amounts that can be charged vary with income. All out of pocket charges are based on the individual state’s...

www.medicaid.gov

I pay whatever I am billed because my family can afford it.

 

[maldorf]

That's due the the popped bubble of the 80-90s and an aging population.

The economy has gone sideways since, but fortunately the quality of life if high.

The aging population is a real issue though - in 4 years one out of every 3 people will be over 60.

Japan seems to be doing nothing to stop it. The deficit appears to be growing fast still. When does it end? What will happen to the economy? I bet inflation is bad.

 

[maldorf]

All those countries have a better quality of life then USA on the quality of life index. Money is only one of many factors. People are generally happier overall in these countries.

Then why are so many immigrants fighting to come to the USA? Why not immigrate to Romania?

 

[maldorf]

If employment weren't tied to healthcare, people would be much quicker to leave a job they hate because of pay, hours, etc. That's by design. I have heard of certain illnesses insurance companies want to deny coverage for as well. That is something I could see happening in the environment we are in.

Denying preexisting conditions and other serious conditions is now illegal and baked into our federal laws for the foreseeable future. I dont see that going anywhere.

Prior to the law, the states set the laws on those things. In Ohio they couldn't deny preexisting conditions as long as you never had a break in insurance coverage. It was tough on those changing jobs, we had to deal with it. Payed $3000 for the family each month for cobra coverage. That was back in 2008. I don't think we are going back to that.

 

[pesty4077]

Then why are so many immigrants fighting to come to the USA? Why not immigrate to Romania?

Now you are sounding slow. Many immigrants live here and people from other countries come here all the time. Romania has low crime and low cost of living. Many want to live here due to that. Romania however unlike USA, regulates who comes in their country.

USA currently allows anyone to be there including illegals. You wouldn't see that in Romania. They get caught, they get booted.

 

[maldorf]

Now you are sounding slow. Many immigrants live here and people from other countries come here all the time. Romania has low crime and low cost of living. Many want to live here due to that. Romania however unlike USA, regulates who comes in their country.

USA currently allows anyone to be there including illegals. You wouldn't see that in Romania. They get caught, they get booted.

That's great Romania enforces their borders. We did that just a year ago here.

Looking at immigration, the rate of legal immigration here has to be greater than just about any other country, even when corrected per capita.

 

[maldorf]

Immigration to the United States vs. Other Countries

Discover global immigration trends in the US versus other countries with expert assistance in L.A. from Goldstein Immigration Lawyers!

immigrationlawyerslosangeles.com

This article says that per capita, the US is similar to some EU countries.