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People compromise medical attention often in the US (we're not talking about the smug, 'I'm alright, got a great insurance package' contingent, or even sometimes the extremely poor with nothing to lose. Case in point would be calling an ambulance, I reckon there are thousands of instances every year where people in need of medical help don't call an ambulance for fear of being billed as much as a plane ride across the other side of the world. (Outrageous). I think it's fair to say that in Japan, the UK, France, Germany etc. no one has to be concerned about transportation to the hospital.
yeah ... the one time I had an ambulance.... it transported me about 6-7 miles, no lights, no sirens, one shot of morphine..... $500 .... that went towards my deductible.....
Compared with the other 10 countries, the U.S. fares best on provision and receipt of preventive and patient-centered car
"Compared with the other 10 countries, the U.S. fares best on provision and receipt of preventive and patient-centered care"
"people in the U.S. go without needed health care because of cost more often than people do in the other countries" really? I seriously doubt it.
As they say, 'Follow the money" Look who did the "report" and who paid for it.
see my post below.... I pay $500 per month for my insurance, but between the deductibles and copays, etc. etc. etc. .... I can not afford needed treatment for congenital problems with my hip and knee.... something I was born with..... not an injury or nothing that I caused...... I'll grant that this is not life threatening, but it does affect quality of life..... and I am SURE that I am far from the only person in this situation......
Quote:
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
I have congenital issues with my hips and knees.... When they flared up on my right side, I was fortunate enough to have insurance that covered the entire cost of surgical repairs needed.....
Now that my left hip and left knee are deteriorating, the insurance coverage that I pay $500 per month for will still leave me with ENORMOUS bills for those surgeries, so I go without.... and do the best I can....
Waiting 6 weeks for CT scan or MRI would be just fine by me if the prospect of needed care at little or no cost to me was on the other side.....
oh... and I, too, received care for a severe ankle injury in Toronto many years ago.... that care was every bit as good and as thorough as I would have received in the states, but only cost me about $25 .... and they agreed to send that bill to my home in the states for payment later..... my only real complaint was that they did not put pads on the crutches, saying that they caused palsey....
People compromise medical attention often in the US (we're not talking about the smug, 'I'm alright, got a great insurance package' contingent, or even sometimes the extremely poor with nothing to lose. Case in point would be calling an ambulance, I reckon there are thousands of instances every year where people in need of medical help don't call an ambulance for fear of being billed as much as a plane ride across the other side of the world. (Outrageous). I think it's fair to say that in Japan, the UK, France, Germany etc. no one has to be concerned about transportation to the hospital.
Your reckonin' is.. Strange to say the least.
So, you're saying that someone fearing they are having a heart attack won't call an ambulance because of the cost.. And because of the cost of the ambulance, also won't have someone drive them (or drive themselves) to the hospital? Not to mention, many critical cases that have an ambulance dispatched.. it's not the decision of the patient anyway. That decision is made for them.
NHS, actually, you DO have reason to be concerned. BBC News - Ambulance response time targets missed in February Almost half the life threatening calls took longer than 8 minutes.. Now, details, we don't know, but.. It was called a "national disgrace". Your statement would be more accurate if you said they didn't have to worry about COST of an ambulance to the hospital.
We should mention here as well that an ambulance, the vehicle itself, is probably in the 40 to 50k range.. The people inside it.. Likely 3 of them.. Are all trained EMTs.. Figure each making somewhere in the $30/hr range? They have to pay back those medical school bills. Then there's all the equipment in the ambulance. (I figure these numbers are waaaay low) It's not like you're being transported to the hospital in an 84 Yugo driven by Pablo.
I find the notion of "patient-centered" care to actually be pretty useless. Patients know approximately epsilon about what care they should receive, etc... Information asymmetry is endemic and unavoidable, and WebMD certainly does not bridge that gap.
Medicine is an industry that should NOT be driven by ignorant parties as if they are on par with health authorities, medical researchers, or even individual doctors.
So, you're saying that someone fearing they are having a heart attack won't call an ambulance because of the cost.. And because of the cost of the ambulance, also won't have someone drive them (or drive themselves) to the hospital? Not to mention, many critical cases that have an ambulance dispatched.. it's not the decision of the patient anyway. That decision is made for them.
NHS, actually, you DO have reason to be concerned. BBC News - Ambulance response time targets missed in February Almost half the life threatening calls took longer than 8 minutes.. Now, details, we don't know, but.. It was called a "national disgrace". Your statement would be more accurate if you said they didn't have to worry about COST of an ambulance to the hospital.
We should mention here as well that an ambulance, the vehicle itself, is probably in the 40 to 50k range.. The people inside it.. Likely 3 of them.. Are all trained EMTs.. Figure each making somewhere in the $30/hr range? They have to pay back those medical school bills. Then there's all the equipment in the ambulance. (I figure these numbers are waaaay low) It's not like you're being transported to the hospital in an 84 Yugo driven by Pablo.
No, I'm saying that many people going to the emergency room, will be given pause before taking an ambulance because of cost (many visits to the ER are well short of a heart attack), in the same way that many have to juggle outgoings for food with that of medication. I, myself, am originally from the UK. The situation in Britain (regardless of the article you cite) in aggregate is far better than the situation Stateside. I also lived in Japan, I would say the situation is far far better than the US. As cited before here in this thread, I had two procedures done in Japan at full cost (outside their excellent national health service) they were about ten times less than the average in the US. Your statement about the Yugo is ridiculous. Do you really think that's typical of the vehicles and skilled ambulance services in rich developed countries such as Germany, Japan, Australia, France, the UK etc? As for your pointing out that the EMTs get paid around 30 bucks an hour. In accordance with apparent ambulance charges here, I'd say they seem to be grossly underpaid.
see my post below.... I pay $500 per month for my insurance, but between the deductibles and copays, etc. etc. etc. .... I can not afford needed treatment for congenital problems with my hip and knee.... something I was born with..... not an injury or nothing that I caused...... I'll grant that this is not life threatening, but it does affect quality of life..... and I am SURE that I am far from the only person in this situation......
" I pay $500 per month for my insurance, but between the deductibles and copays, etc. etc. etc. .... I can not afford needed treatment for congenital problems with my hip and knee...."
And what is your point? Do you want ME to pay for it.
While I do have empathy for you, many people have their own problems.
People have to understand, sometime in their life, that life is NOT fair.
People compromise medical attention often in the US (we're not talking about the smug, 'I'm alright, got a great insurance package' contingent, or even sometimes the extremely poor with nothing to lose. Case in point would be calling an ambulance, I reckon there are thousands of instances every year where people in need of medical help don't call an ambulance for fear of being billed as much as a plane ride across the other side of the world. (Outrageous). I think it's fair to say that in Japan, the UK, France, Germany etc. no one has to be concerned about transportation to the hospital.
You got that right. It's not a lack of good "insurance" problem, it's the outrageous cost of medical care in the first place. Just why DOES an ambulance trip, in my Dad's case from his Assisted Living Facility to a Hospital less then 2(!) miles away, was $600.00 every time, with no care provided, other than being loaded on a stretcher. For that matter, why does going into the hospital and having a perfectly normal delivery, then going home in 24 - 48 hours cost tens of thousands of dollars? Why? What is really being provided in that case that is worth that much money?
" I pay $500 per month for my insurance, but between the deductibles and copays, etc. etc. etc. .... I can not afford needed treatment for congenital problems with my hip and knee...."
And what is your point? Do you want ME to pay for it.
While I do have empathy for you, many people have their own problems.
People have to understand, sometime in their life, that life is NOT fair.
Why on EARTH would I want YOU to pay for MY care.... what a ridiculous statement...... and I am well aware that everyone has their own set of problems.... I see that every single day of the week.... but there are things that can be made more fair....
you said that you doubted people were going without care here because of the expense.... or something to that effect....
what I would prefer is that my $500 per month go towards a more equitable, single payer system such as we see in the other first world countries where people don't have to fear bankruptcy due to an illness or injury....
I have worked nearly every day of my life from the age of 16 on and am sick to DEATH of the way things in this country have shaken out over the last decade or so.....
NHS, actually, you DO have reason to be concerned. BBC News - Ambulance response time targets missed in February Almost half the life threatening calls took longer than 8 minutes.. Now, details, we don't know, but.. It was called a "national disgrace". Your statement would be more accurate if you said they didn't have to worry about COST of an ambulance to the hospital.
8 minutes response is fairly good in sparsely populated places such as Wales, the NHS has well trained paramedics and is a very good emergency service, it's also free.
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