How can American citizens afford such an expensive healthcare system? (health care system, Canada)
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[quote=pouringsunshine;57883388]In terms of the UK not by much though ... average income in the USA is 63,000 dollars and in the UK it’s about 47,000 dollars. Less than 20k difference. Yet the healthcare costs in the US can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars while in the UK, they’re completely free via the NHS.
I won’t draw a comparison between the USA and Greece because you’re right Greece has a substantially lower average income.[/QUOTE
Well housing in USA is cheaper and taxes are lower (partially due to no payment for Health system). But yeah, our health costs are way too high.
Some people had to pay literally 100,000 dollars for a one hour procedure (without complications)! I couldn’t believe it.
In America there is a law called EMTALA, that requires hospitals to give people care whether they can pay for it or not. A very humanitarian law, of course.
But doctors don't work for free, neither do nurses, technicians, secretaries etc. The operating room must be paid for, all the equipment (much of it one-time-use). And, of course, taxes must go on, and must be paid whether the care was "free" or not.
As a result of giving out so much "free" care, the hospitals (which don't have a money tree in their back yards) must charge all those unpaid expenses to whoever CAN pay. And that's your friend with her insurance. So aspirins cost $100, band-aids are $150 each, etc. etc..... and appendectomies cost $100,000.
Welcome to humanitarian America, where money trees just don't grow.
The tax-payers in UK pay taxes which funds their healthcare system.
You have to ask..........
Awe~~Finn_Jarber ~~ You forgot to mention the taxpayers pay pro-rated according to their income!! There lies the differences in costs for poor/medium/high and ultra rich folks!
Even the Richey rich though pay more is far less than paying tens of Thousands of dollars for what they are paying.. Option "Extended Care" these folks ,who can afford it will supplement other coverages that are NOT covered by basic needs!!
...There should be a law. If a drug literally keeps you alive, the price should be capped to where people aren't dying because they can't afford it making minimum wage.
The reason there's not a law is evident when you go on a website called Open Secrets and type in the House and Senate representatives' names and look for who is funding their campaigns. Big pharma, medical businesses, and insurance companies are often at the top of the list of bribers...ahem... I mean "donors."
Quote:
Originally Posted by J746NEW
Who paid for the other $246,500? Socialized to other payers?
I mean if they bill the hospitals for that, who is paying for it?
Either that, or it is a scam to bilk others and let some off.
What other industry works like that?
I have $5000 in car repairs but only pay $50 bucks? How does that work?
Is the person paying 10 bucks for a tylenol pill paying part of your bill?
Do you seriously think $250,000 for knee replacement/transplant surgery is a reasonable price?
And besides, health insurance works by figuring out the risks that they're going to be on the hook for expensive surgeries, how likely they will be paying these over a large group of beneficiaries, adding in lots of exemptions and conditions that let them deny quite a few claims, and then hoping to make a profit off the many expensive policies that they sell to people with very few claims, while investing their revenue. They've got this modeled out pretty well to know how they're going to make a profit. And it's not cheap for the people paying the bill, month after month, who may not see anything come back to them in payments, until they have something expensive happen and then hope the insurance doesn't find a "gotcha" clause not to pay.
As to your car repair example, unless you are paying insurance for an extended warranty (which are often full of gotcha clauses themselves), you aren't paying anything for car repair insurance, which is why you're responsible for the whole bill. So that's not really a good comparison.
In America there is a law called EMTALA, that requires hospitals to give people care whether they can pay for it or not. A very humanitarian law, of course.
But doctors don't work for free, neither do nurses, technicians, secretaries etc. The operating room must be paid for, all the equipment (much of it one-time-use). And, of course, taxes must go on, and must be paid whether the care was "free" or not.
As a result of giving out so much "free" care, the hospitals (which don't have a money tree in their back yards) must charge all those unpaid expenses to whoever CAN pay. And that's your friend with her insurance. So aspirins cost $100, band-aids are $150 each, etc. etc..... and appendectomies cost $100,000.
Welcome to humanitarian America, where money trees just don't grow.
EMTALA is emergencies only.
Hospitals will of course try and recoup any freebies/losses, but rates may not go up next year, and so they may eat the loss and simply profit less. They cannot just charge some other entity for the loss.
Aspirin may be billed at $100, but no one pays that. Discussed already above.
Hospitals will of course try and recoup any freebies/losses, but rates may not go up next year, and so they may eat the loss and simply profit less. They cannot just charge some other entity for the loss.
Aspirin may be billed at $100, but no one pays that. Discussed already above.
Yep. EMTALA just means they have to stabilize your condition. Tough isht for you if you’ve got cancer or need a transplant.
Ok. I was responding to the Greek person in UK who was wondering how we pay for it in US.
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