Impeding changes to our Health Care system

[TheMercenary]

Talking points on health care

I don’t know about you, but I’ve reached the point where I’d rather scope out blue zircon rings on the QVC Shopping Channel than endure the braying of opposing partisans on cable about the leviathan health care plan being debated in Washington. It no longer interests me where you stand on it. What interests me now is, what do you know about it?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...n_health_care/

[richlevy]

I still find this shocking. This company treats people in hotspots all over the world. What's amazing is the level of need in Los Angeles. For a large segment of the population, America is a third world country when it comes to health care.

When Remote Area Medical, the Tennessee-based organization running the event, decided to try its hand at large urban medical services, its principals thought Los Angeles would be a good place to start. But they were far from prepared for the outpouring of need. Set up for eight days of care, the group was already overwhelmed on the first day after allowing 1,500 people through the door, nearly 500 of whom had still not been served by day’s end and had to return in the wee hours Wednesday morning.
The enormous response to the free care was a stark corollary to the hundreds of Americans who have filled town-hall-style meetings throughout the country, angrily expressing their fear of the Obama administration’s proposed changes to the nation’s health care system. The bleachers of patients also reflected the state’s high unemployment, recent reduction in its Medicaid services for the poor and high deductibles and co-payments that have come to define many employer-sponsored insurance programs.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Why are you shocked? Were you unaware that half (made up internet statistic) of Los Angeles is third word people who have invaded the US?

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Why are you shocked? Were you unaware that half (made up internet statistic) of Los Angeles is third word people who have invaded the US?

I wish we could have carded the people in that stadium. I'll bet most were US citizens or legal residents. You don't have to be an illegal immigrant to be poor and uninsured or under-insured in this country.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I wish we could have carded the people in that stadium. I'll bet most were US citizens or legal residents. You don't have to be an illegal immigrant to be poor and uninsured or under-insured in this country.

No you don't, but that in no way negates my statement that half of LA is third world.
There is also the allure of something free, that brings people out of the woodwork.
I'd bet that most of the problems they treated were not serious enough to compel the patient to make the effort to go to the ER or find a clinic.
Put together free, definite time/place, and some condition people keep saying, "I ought to get that checked out" but don't bother, and you have the perfect storm.

[DanaC]

Both the examples mentioned in the article were US citizens. One a woman who having worked for twenty years in the same company has lost her job and is unable to get treatment for a heart condition. Another a retired man whose insurance ran out before his dentures had been finished. Both Americans who've worked their whole life and have slipped through the net. One whose pre existing heart condition meant she was unable to get insurance after her employee insurance no longer covered her and the other a man who slipped into the doughnut hole.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Both the examples mentioned in the article were US citizens. One a woman who having worked for twenty years in the same company has lost her job and is unable to get treatment for a heart condition. Another a retired man whose insurance ran out before his dentures had been finished. Both Americans who've worked their whole life and have slipped through the net. One whose pre existing heart condition meant she was unable to get insurance after her employee insurance no longer covered her and the other a man who slipped into the doughnut hole.

Two out of thousands? Why do you think they picked those two?

[Undertoad]

They did free acupuncture for pain. Which is great, because if people believe Qi adjustment is medicine, it can be administered by non-doctors in non-medical facilities at a much cheaper rate. Already a huge cost savings!

I am willing to buy some aromatherapy candles for the uninsured. But I will not pay for their chiropractic sessions.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

They did free acupuncture for pain. Which is great, because if people believe Qi adjustment is medicine, it can be administered by non-doctors in non-medical facilities at a much cheaper rate. Already a huge cost savings!

Strangely, the US Air Force agrees with you.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by jinx

Pharmaceutical companies make billions in profits ever year. Start there if you want to lay the blame of the uninsured at someone's feet - not mine.

I have no problem with everyone having access to a basic standard of care, it makes sense all around. But I think as long as people to can choose to be professional students, or have their own struggling business instead of working for the man, or take time off to travel, paint, discover themselves etc... they shouldn't have the right to take more from me to cover their ass when they get sick or hurt.

If everyone pays in, the same amount per human - then I'm all for it.

If it's team politics and those who support 'the war' are expected to pay more because they go to work and collect a bigger paycheck - fuck that.

Why is it that one fuckin aspirin tablet in a hospital costs $27.00, yet I can buy a bottle of 100 of them at less than 10 cents a piece? Why is it that Afrin costs over $150 for a bottle in a hospital, whereas at Walmart its only $1.98.

Rectify the ridiculous costs of the care and the insurance will no longer be a problem.

Its just too easy to blame the big evil Insurance companies while the Pharma Co's are lining your politicians pockets.

: onrant: Our current leader was elected primarily on the premise of taking care of the needs of this country - specifically the needs of the lower classes - GREAT, I say. Problem is that the productive people are being screwed in the process - You cannot raise the latter by lowering the former. That doesn't work.

Yes this needs to be corrected, but they seem to be addressing the wrong end of this equation. I no longer wonder why - cuz its whats best for them - not us. : offrant:

[Shawnee123]

Its just too easy to blame the big evil Insurance companies while the Pharma Co's are lining your politicians pockets.

ORLY? I blame both the motherfuckers: all in line with greed greed greed. Y'all don't see that that is what is wrong in this country? Who's stupid now?

Whatever we do, let's make sure someone isn't getting health care. In fact, I think we should line the streets with dead people who couldn't afford insurance just to make a fucking point.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

Why is it that one fuckin aspirin tablet in a hospital costs $27.00, yet I can buy a bottle of 100 of them at less than 10 cents a piece?
...

You're not just paying for the pill. You're paying for a stocked, full service pharmacy, the person who gets the pill for you, the person who gives you the pill, prescribes the pill, bills your insurance company, cleans the floors, manages human resources for the hospital, the CEO, board members, and stockholders. You're even paying for the hospital picnic, advertizing, and support for the local girls' softball team. Sometimes a pill is not just a pill. There's certainly room to cut costs, though. Start with making all health-related companies not-for-profit.

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

... In fact, I think we should line the streets with dead people who couldn't afford insurance just to make a fucking point.

That would make the streets real bumpy, and they'd get smelly pretty quickly. Yuck!

[glatt]

As long as we are pointing fingers and talking about costs, it might be worthwhile to go back to the link that Undertoad posted back in post 152.

It shows that by far the greatest rates of waste in the US health care system are in insurance and administration of health care. Also, US doctors, especially specialists, are paid more than in any other Western nations. There are other areas, like prescription drugs, where costs are higher than they should be, but the insurance companies and overpaid doctors account for most of the high cost in our system.

This interactive graphic overview is pretty easy to understand and very informative.

[jinx]

What about expensive television advertising of "new" drugs that are just like the old drugs but with a brand new patent so they cost more? Shouldn't even be legal...

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by glatt

As long as we are pointing fingers and talking about costs, it might be worthwhile to go back to the link that Undertoad posted back in post 152.

It shows that by far the greatest rates of waste in the US health care system are in insurance and administration of health care. Also, US doctors, especially specialists, are paid more than in any other Western nations. There are other areas, like prescription drugs, where costs are higher than they should be, but the insurance companies and overpaid doctors account for most of the high cost in our system.

This interactive graphic overview is pretty easy to understand and very informative.

I'm an occasional visitor to this thread, and a seagull poster (swoop in, skwawk a bit, and flap off...), but ...

according to some things I saw on TV a while back, health care in the US is so much more expensive than elswhere because of (a) insurance costs, (b) excessive testing for every conceivable possible cause of the symptoms, no matter how unlikely, and (c) adminstration.

Why is this? Lawyers. Litigousness. Suing the hospital and the doctor if anything goes wrong. Getting payouts that make the rest of the world gape in awe. Increasing the cost of insurance for the doctors, and causing the docs to do every imaginable test.

Sure, I want doctors to be prudent, and do *appropriate* tests before making a diagnosis. The judgement call is on what counts as appropriate. The opinion of the program I saw is that US doctors, to cover their backs liability-wise, have to do far more tests than anyone else would consider appropriate. It is a risk balancing act - do you spend $800 on a test for a disease if there is a 1 in 10,000 chance the patient has it? IMHO, the US has gone too far towards caution.

There is also administration. In Taiwan, there is a single, govenrment run health fund - everyone has their computerised card - they spend a tad over 1% (yes, ONE PERCENT) of their total health budget on administration. This was by far the best in the world, but the US was among the worst.


kthnxbai

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