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Thread: Health Care Costs....

  1. #46
    Years ago, I worked for a company that was going through a near bankruptcy. There wqas a big pay out coming down the road, and many of us hung in there and did get the big bonus, but there were a few months when we weren't sure about getting a weekly pay check and twice the company missed health insurance payments. What was odd, was that my step son's asthma medicine with the prescription coverage had a co-pay of $15.00. When the insurance coverage was canceled and we needed a refill, the cost was $10.39 without insurance. So from then on for some rx's we told the pharmacy we didn't have insurance and got a lower price. On the other hand, my dentist of 25 years just stopped taking my dental coverage. Dentist told me ahead of time that the insurance simply refused to pay enough for them to pay the bills and the negotiator for the dental insurance told them to "increase the prices to uninsured people to make up the difference." Our dental insurance was through one of the largest employers in the county, all the local dentists refused to continue taking it, so some 9,000 families lost their dentists and can't find new ones that take their insurance.

  2. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Garson View Post
    Wow, the more I read the posts in this thread, the more I appreciate our Canadian universal health care system despite all its faults.
    I’m with you Doug. Wow indeed!

  3. #48
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    I've been saying that ever since the 1980s that the medical industry is using people as a cash crop. Yeah it's a bit more crude than the polite way it's being said in this thread, but, it's not a tiny bit less accurate.


    I'll tell you a 100% sure fire way to get rid of 99% of all those sore backs the industry is exploiting.

    Get rid of the big belly and the back will be fine.
    Last edited by Rich Engelhardt; 03-11-2023 at 10:53 AM.
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  4. #49
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    As someone once told me, health care in the US is a business helping you live long enough to get as much of your money as they can.
    < insert spurious quote here >

  5. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Engelhardt View Post
    Get rid of the big belly and the back will be fine.
    Ha! Big belly and big pharma.

  6. #51
    I’ve been following comments here with interest. I am a retired physician (internist) with a long standing interest in medical economics. I realize we can’t get into the political arena and it’s not my intent to do so but I would recommend two books for those interested in the evolution of our current system and a comparison between ours and other systems around the world. The first is “Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care” by Stuart Altman and the second is “The Healing of America” by TR Reid. Altman covers the history of governmental involvement in US healthcare and probably know more about it than anyone. It’s a bit of a long book but worth it for anyone truly interested in health care in the US. Reid is a reporter who compares heath care delivery in major economies around the world and examines strengths and weakness in all - I think pretty objectively. Both books about 10+ years old but still relevant. Read ‘em and you will know more than 99% of folks talking about the subject.
    Jeff

  7. #52
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    I've been saying that ever since the 1980s that the medical industry is using people as a cash crop.
    My recollection is that the '80s was when a lot of medical providers switched from nonprofit organizations to for profit businesses.

    After reading a lot of the posts here I'm glad my medical provider stayed a nonprofit.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  8. #53
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Clode View Post
    I’ve been following comments here with interest. I am a retired physician (internist) with a long standing interest in medical economics. I realize we can’t get into the political arena and it’s not my intent to do so but I would recommend two books for those interested in the evolution of our current system and a comparison between ours and other systems around the world. The first is “Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care” by Stuart Altman and the second is “The Healing of America” by TR Reid. Altman covers the history of governmental involvement in US healthcare and probably know more about it than anyone. It’s a bit of a long book but worth it for anyone truly interested in health care in the US. Reid is a reporter who compares heath care delivery in major economies around the world and examines strengths and weakness in all - I think pretty objectively. Both books about 10+ years old but still relevant. Read ‘em and you will know more than 99% of folks talking about the subject.
    Jeff
    For anyone interested, TR Reid did a one hour documentary for Frontline called Sick Around the World which preceded his book by a couple of years. He chronicles health systems in several countries. I thought it was very good.
    Being a finance/accounting person by background, I was especially impressed by the analytical methods the Japanese used for price setting and also how the private industry found innovative ways to comply with the set pricing by developing more efficient medical devices. For example, the price the Japanese set for an MRI was a fraction of what is conventional in the US. In response Samsung developed a more efficient but equally effective MRI scanner that made the fee payment workable.

    It was also memorable to me that the NHS in the UK built in mechanisms to incentivize family physicians for providing preventive care and health counseling. If you like the documentary, then you can be sure you'll love the book.

    https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/d...roundtheworld/

  9. #54
    An eye opener for me re US vs Foreign medical costs:

    Five years ago I was a tourist in Jerusalem, Israel and unfortunately became ill and had to be hospitalized. I was taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem by ambulance. I was treated in the ER and was admitted for three days. Multiple blood tests, IV's, CT scans and other procedures. I was given a private room in the 800 bed teaching hospital and received excellent care. I am a US citizen by birth.

    I was billed as follows: Ambulance $100; ER plus three hospital days $2400.

    When I returned home home my Medicare Supplemental Plan paid 80% of my costs. A single ER visit in the US can result in a patient bill for many times he amount of my Israeli bill. Surely the US can find a better way.

  10. #55
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    It is a learning opportunity which I find very interesting……Regards, Rod

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