Why Is Health Care So High In This Country?
Posted 06-20-2008 at 08:13 PM by GCSTroop
As a relatively young person (26 years old) I have had little experience with doctors other than the occassional check-up. Most of my adult life, until this past year, was in the military and you only went to the doctor (what we called the "medical hobby shop") as a last resort. So, it was my first "real" experience being referred to a specialist earlier last week.
It all started when I went to my primary care physician early last week for my regular checkup. One of the first things I did was step on the scale and notice that I'd lost 15 pounds in about a year. Now, that may sound like a lot, and I'm sure some people would wish they had the good fortune of being able to do this without even exercising or caring what they ate. But, for me, as someone who has been underweight his whole life, this was a little concerning. However, given the wide range of events in my life over the past year it, it didn't seem that crazy. Buying a new home, changing jobs, working night shift, and so on and so forth added up to quit a bit of stress and I had also had acid reflux problems within that time frame as well.
At least, I suspected it was acid reflux. I would get about halfway through my meals and feel like someone was sticking a finger down my throat. So, I wasn't eating all of my food either. It's not hard to see where the 15 pounds could be shaved off at this point. Now, my doctor was a little concerned even after I told her all of this and she said she wanted me to gain 12-15 pounds over the course of the next two or three months but she also wanted me to see a gastroenterologist for "just in case" purposes.
So, I made the appointment, went to the gut doctor and told him what was going on. He asked me the regular questions that you would expect and said that everything appeared normal. However, he wanted to eliminate as many possibilities as he could so he said he was going to draw blood and check for everything from hyperthyroidism to AIDS?! He also wanted to take stool samples and then he was going to have me come in this upcoming Monday so he could have me drink radioactive waste, do a CT scan on my "upper", and also put me under anesthesia so he could ram a camera down my throat and look at my stomach.
At this point, I'm beginning to wonder. All of this for acid reflux? I mean... my doctor gave me Omeprazol to help with the acid reflux and it seems to have helped quite a bit. No doubt, my stomach surely feels like it has shrunk a bit - probably because I haven't eaten normal portions in over a year - but the "finger down the throat" feeling is gone. It was at this point that I drew the connection as to why health care is so outrageously ridiculous in this country.
Imagine... Just think about it in this light. Let's say you take your car into the shop because you hear your brakes squeaking. The mechanic looks it over, runs the usual range of tests, and even though you said that the pads hadn't been changed in a while he insists that they inspect every single part of the brake system for "just in case" purposes. However, for each point that they check, it's going to cost you and your insurance company an enormous sum of money. There very well COULD be something wrong with some of the points but if you pull the tire off and see worn brake pads isn't it an obvious indication as to what is wrong?! And, wouldn't you possibly change the brake pads and take it for a test drive? I certainly would.
Yet, this is not the type of practice my gastroenterologist insisted on. Rather, he wanted me to have CT scans done, he wanted me to have my stomach scoped and all of this before my blood tests even came back! Now, imagine this... Imagine that my blood tests come back and show a bacterial infection that could easily be cured with antibiotics. Does that not mean that the CT scan, anasthesia, and radioactive sludge was all a waste of time?! Imagine that! And yet, who's going to foot the bill for all of this? My insurance company and myself. And yet, we sit here and we wonder why health care is so high in this country.
What it boils down to is this:
Just like when you take your squeaking brakes to MIDAS, they offer a "thirty-something point inspection" for your brake system at no extra charge. Now, while I realize it's easier to visually inspect a cars brake system than the human body, I also have to wonder at why each individual component isn't included in some sort of "inspection package." I find it abhorrently ridiculous that I was expected to pay for a gauntlet of tests before I knew the results of preliminary tests. All in all, I cancelled my "upper" CT scans, radioactive waste drinking binge, and other things until I find out if I start gaining weight and seeing if the antacids work. If, in two or three months, there is no improvement, than I'll go ahead with it.
Be skeptical folks! I'm not saying I'm right. For all I know, there could be a tumor the size of a tennis ball growing in my esophagus. However, I've been dealing with acid reflux for well over a year (more like two or three at least) and I don't imagine that whatever is causing it just cannot wait for another two or three months. I could be dead wrong, but use a little common sense when you see your doctor. They have mouths to feed too!
It all started when I went to my primary care physician early last week for my regular checkup. One of the first things I did was step on the scale and notice that I'd lost 15 pounds in about a year. Now, that may sound like a lot, and I'm sure some people would wish they had the good fortune of being able to do this without even exercising or caring what they ate. But, for me, as someone who has been underweight his whole life, this was a little concerning. However, given the wide range of events in my life over the past year it, it didn't seem that crazy. Buying a new home, changing jobs, working night shift, and so on and so forth added up to quit a bit of stress and I had also had acid reflux problems within that time frame as well.
At least, I suspected it was acid reflux. I would get about halfway through my meals and feel like someone was sticking a finger down my throat. So, I wasn't eating all of my food either. It's not hard to see where the 15 pounds could be shaved off at this point. Now, my doctor was a little concerned even after I told her all of this and she said she wanted me to gain 12-15 pounds over the course of the next two or three months but she also wanted me to see a gastroenterologist for "just in case" purposes.
So, I made the appointment, went to the gut doctor and told him what was going on. He asked me the regular questions that you would expect and said that everything appeared normal. However, he wanted to eliminate as many possibilities as he could so he said he was going to draw blood and check for everything from hyperthyroidism to AIDS?! He also wanted to take stool samples and then he was going to have me come in this upcoming Monday so he could have me drink radioactive waste, do a CT scan on my "upper", and also put me under anesthesia so he could ram a camera down my throat and look at my stomach.
At this point, I'm beginning to wonder. All of this for acid reflux? I mean... my doctor gave me Omeprazol to help with the acid reflux and it seems to have helped quite a bit. No doubt, my stomach surely feels like it has shrunk a bit - probably because I haven't eaten normal portions in over a year - but the "finger down the throat" feeling is gone. It was at this point that I drew the connection as to why health care is so outrageously ridiculous in this country.
Imagine... Just think about it in this light. Let's say you take your car into the shop because you hear your brakes squeaking. The mechanic looks it over, runs the usual range of tests, and even though you said that the pads hadn't been changed in a while he insists that they inspect every single part of the brake system for "just in case" purposes. However, for each point that they check, it's going to cost you and your insurance company an enormous sum of money. There very well COULD be something wrong with some of the points but if you pull the tire off and see worn brake pads isn't it an obvious indication as to what is wrong?! And, wouldn't you possibly change the brake pads and take it for a test drive? I certainly would.
Yet, this is not the type of practice my gastroenterologist insisted on. Rather, he wanted me to have CT scans done, he wanted me to have my stomach scoped and all of this before my blood tests even came back! Now, imagine this... Imagine that my blood tests come back and show a bacterial infection that could easily be cured with antibiotics. Does that not mean that the CT scan, anasthesia, and radioactive sludge was all a waste of time?! Imagine that! And yet, who's going to foot the bill for all of this? My insurance company and myself. And yet, we sit here and we wonder why health care is so high in this country.
What it boils down to is this:
Just like when you take your squeaking brakes to MIDAS, they offer a "thirty-something point inspection" for your brake system at no extra charge. Now, while I realize it's easier to visually inspect a cars brake system than the human body, I also have to wonder at why each individual component isn't included in some sort of "inspection package." I find it abhorrently ridiculous that I was expected to pay for a gauntlet of tests before I knew the results of preliminary tests. All in all, I cancelled my "upper" CT scans, radioactive waste drinking binge, and other things until I find out if I start gaining weight and seeing if the antacids work. If, in two or three months, there is no improvement, than I'll go ahead with it.
Be skeptical folks! I'm not saying I'm right. For all I know, there could be a tumor the size of a tennis ball growing in my esophagus. However, I've been dealing with acid reflux for well over a year (more like two or three at least) and I don't imagine that whatever is causing it just cannot wait for another two or three months. I could be dead wrong, but use a little common sense when you see your doctor. They have mouths to feed too!
Total Comments 59
Comments
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Updated 12-07-2018 at 06:36 PM by shaneethomp20 (had to fix link) -
American Health Care is the highest costing healthcare in the world. From my understanding, this has to do with the fact that everything cost more in the US.
The reason for everything being more expensive is because, in our healthcare model, each state has to supply (i.e. purchase) basically every type of medical service, while other countries have the federal government supply these services - making them a bigger buyer and able to get better deals on all medial services and equipment.
To further clarify this, each state has to bargain on it's own behalf for medical services - making them have weak purchasing power (i.e. leverage over the supplier) than a country with a single payer healthcare system where the whole country (one central institution) is the buyer of medical services and equipment for the whole country (they have leverage over the supplier of medical products because basically no one else in that country is a buyer of those types of services and equipment).
This video by John Green does a great job at explaining it, and debunk other myths about why it is so high (like mentioned in the thread of suing practitioners, obesity, etc.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjGouBmo0M
PS. Not saying that other things mentioned above (like suing practitioners) don't contribute to high cost, they just don't contribute nearly as much as the lack of buying power each state has relative to a whole country.Posted 02-12-2019 at 03:28 PM by IanPear
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