Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-24-2019, 05:38 PM
 
Location: equator
11,022 posts, read 6,570,702 times
Reputation: 25486

Advertisements

Came across this article and could certainly relate. In Texas, I spent about 2 hours in the ER and had 2 bags of saline---that's it. Cost: over $5,000. Kidney stone was maybe 5 hours and billed for over $30,000.

Conversely, I spent 3 DAYS in the hospital down here (So. America) for my dislocated hip and paid:
ZERO. All was included in our $80 a month national plan (for us both).

I wonder if any of this can ever be addressed.

https://truthout.org/articles/in-med...pass-as-legal/
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-24-2019, 08:44 PM
 
5,399 posts, read 3,427,547 times
Reputation: 9053
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sand&Salt View Post
Conversely, I spent 3 DAYS in the hospital down here (So. America) for my dislocated hip and paid:
ZERO. All was included in our $80 a month national plan (for us both).
I agree there is a lot of waste and fraud in the US medical system, but a dislocated hip can't be fixed for zero or $80 a month in your country. Somebody is paying for it in some way, taxes?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-25-2019, 09:58 AM
 
6,065 posts, read 4,428,663 times
Reputation: 13599
Everybody is paying $80 a month for it. It's pretty simple.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-25-2019, 01:22 PM
 
Location: on the wind
23,025 posts, read 18,380,588 times
Reputation: 74499
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sand&Salt View Post
In Texas, I spent about 2 hours in the ER and had 2 bags of saline---that's it. Cost: over $5,000. Kidney stone was maybe 5 hours and billed for over $30,000.
Part of the problem is that you are not seeing the costs for everything that ER was ready to provide to you if it became necessary. That's what ERs do...prepare for whatever decides to walk in the door. A lot more than a bag of saline. You were being monitored, the place and just about everything in it was single use or sanitized, there were highly trained staff present (and they aren't cheap), you had all the lifesaving equipment standing ready at a moment's notice. Of course I'm not going to blindly defend health care costs in the US. Everyone knows they could be lower including the industry. Now if you were lying on a cot in someone's dirty back bedroom while your kidney stone passed, maybe that would cost $80.

Last edited by Parnassia; 12-25-2019 at 01:32 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-25-2019, 01:25 PM
 
Location: Georgia, USA
36,998 posts, read 41,037,276 times
Reputation: 44935
I suspect that in the system in the OP's country medical facilities do not have to compete with one another. I also suspect that those facilities are not as palatial as some in the US, who use amenities that have nothing to do with medical care to attract "customers". In the US there will be multiple hospitals located close to one another which duplicate services that could be more economically provided in one location.

My sister in law had surgery recently at a large hospital in an Atlanta suburb. The physical plant is astounding, and all I could think of was how much it must have cost to build and maintain it.

Then there is the elimination of insurance billing and the entire bureaucracy dedicated to that in the US.

OP, is the system funded entirely with the monthly premium or is there also tax funding?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-25-2019, 11:54 PM
 
Location: Arizona
12,950 posts, read 7,114,716 times
Reputation: 9916
Was that the contracted rate? I don't know why hospitals like showing the rate which is un-contracted bill will say 100k medicare, or health insurance contracted rate will be 28k. My wife spent a week in ICU then a week in a regular room the un-contracted bill was 680k. The insurance company only paid them about 42k not including doctors. Even friends I have known who had no insurance they end up with the same contracted rates after telling them can't pay it.

There will never be a government run insurance or healthcare system in the US like what is in Canada, or the UK. As long as our political system is the way it is no way profit healthcare will allow it to change.

Personally I have never had any issues with American medicine I have always had insurance even when I making $10 an hour when I was young in my 20s. I feel for poor people who have no healthcare but even then I know a few had good healthcare on state medical. The few who choose not to have health insurance ended up with lot of bills.

I rather have the smartest guys doing the surgery if they can get paid lot of money to do it rather see them make 600k a year then some football player.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-26-2019, 07:37 AM
 
7,996 posts, read 10,366,087 times
Reputation: 15006
Insurance companies here exist to make a profit. Healthcare systems and hospitals here are also for-profit. Therein lies the problem. Every, single study has shown that universal healthcare actually costs countries LESS than the system the US has in place now. The US gov't pays more per person for healthcare than countries that provide healthcare for everyone. It also costs each person in those countries LESS in taxes for that care then we currently pay in premiums, cp-pays, deductibles, etc.

https://www.businessinsider.com/cost...-ranked-2019-3

A couple months ago, I read an article in my hometown newspaper about how a certain healthcare system, which has a large presence there, saw profits go down. I was outraged. Why should a healthcare system be worried about profits?! And even though their profits went down, they still totaled over half a BILLION dollars. Do you have any idea how many people without insurance that could have helped?

The only reason our system still exists is because lawmakers are becoming rich(er) from it. Follow the money and you will see how much they make from insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-26-2019, 08:44 AM
 
Location: NJ
23,829 posts, read 33,355,576 times
Reputation: 30687
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sand&Salt View Post
Came across this article and could certainly relate. In Texas, I spent about 2 hours in the ER and had 2 bags of saline---that's it. Cost: over $5,000. Kidney stone was maybe 5 hours and billed for over $30,000.

Conversely, I spent 3 DAYS in the hospital down here (So. America) for my dislocated hip and paid:
ZERO. All was included in our $80 a month national plan (for us both).

I wonder if any of this can ever be addressed.

https://truthout.org/articles/in-med...pass-as-legal/
The author should have spoken up about the services received compared to the services billed. I surely would have. She knew exactly what they did and what was really billed for.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-26-2019, 09:54 AM
 
6,288 posts, read 2,846,055 times
Reputation: 7210
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sand&Salt View Post
Came across this article and could certainly relate. In Texas, I spent about 2 hours in the ER and had 2 bags of saline---that's it. Cost: over $5,000. Kidney stone was maybe 5 hours and billed for over $30,000.

Conversely, I spent 3 DAYS in the hospital down here (So. America) for my dislocated hip and paid:
ZERO. All was included in our $80 a month national plan (for us both).

I wonder if any of this can ever be addressed.

https://truthout.org/articles/in-med...pass-as-legal/
My insurance got billed $1700 for 7 stitches at the ER two years ago. I had a GI infection a few years back and the bill in the ER for a couple of bags of fluids was something like $5000 too. But I needed several tests because they weren't sure what it was - tests like that are expensive. My kidney stone wasn't that much. After and hour of IV fluids with dilauded it seemed to pass. I didn't need any tests though. I guess they took my word that it was a stone - I had one in 1998 so I knew what it was.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-26-2019, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,346,670 times
Reputation: 49248
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sand&Salt View Post
Came across this article and could certainly relate. In Texas, I spent about 2 hours in the ER and had 2 bags of saline---that's it. Cost: over $5,000. Kidney stone was maybe 5 hours and billed for over $30,000.

Conversely, I spent 3 DAYS in the hospital down here (So. America) for my dislocated hip and paid:
ZERO. All was included in our $80 a month national plan (for us both).

I wonder if any of this can ever be addressed.

https://truthout.org/articles/in-med...pass-as-legal/
First: don't believe everything you read
2; we all know those bills we get or see listed places like here are never the true amount that the doctors and hospitals really expect to get
3: if we were to end up with medicare for all, which I hope never happens, remember medicare right now is running about $140 per month per individual. If anyone thinks we are going to get free or close to free medical coverage for all families they need to re-think it. do you have any idea how many come to our country for medical treatment because we offer such good doctors?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Health and Wellness

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top