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They are to busy making their way to the Cleveland or Mayo clinics for life saving treatment they can't get.
Ask a Canadian if they know anybody who has ever done that (travelled to the U.S. for treatment). I know of no one but I do know of many people who have had excellent cancer treatment in Canada some of which were done on an emergency basis.
Ask a Canadian if they know anybody who has ever done that (travelled to the U.S. for treatment). I know of no one but I do know of many people who have had excellent cancer treatment in Canada some of which were done on an emergency basis.
I have a cousin who went to the US for dental implants, but her daughter worked for the dentist there and she got a really super deal from him! Other than that I don't know of anybody else who went to the US for any kind of treatment.
As I understand it, most patient needs are not in urgent need of medical care thus there isn't any large protests because most people do fine... however, when you do have urgent needs, that's where public plans fail because the system is already overtaxed as it is... Regardless, once the public plan hits, it will be as it was thought to be... nobody will treat them and when they do, it will be on a low tier care system whereas those with private plans will receive higher care and wider acceptance... then the government will "mandate" ridiculous laws because of the inequity and then nobody will get treated... equal burden, I suppose... even though you are paying for their burden and now will have to suffer the same burden as you pay for yourself as well... ironic...
Doctor's don't set prices for their fees, nor for their malpractice insuance .. INSURANCE COMPANIES DO!! See, this is the core of the problem, insurance companies. Non medical professionals setting prices and fees for medical professionals.
I do agree on tort reform, however, but much of this is done on the state level. Wonder if a federal statute on tort reform would help ...
Here is the reality:
1. Health care costs have gone up primarily due to insurance companies. My husband works on medical billing software designed to recover reimbursement costs from insurance companies for hospitals. Doctors and hospitals receive only a fraction of what they submit to insurance companies. They hyperinflate their prices in order to get back their actual costs. Doctors/Hospitals know they are doing this, insurance companies know they are doing this. It is a game to keep prices up and premiums fat. Wink-wink, nod-nod.
2. Self-pay (uninsured) individuals are billed at the hyperinflated price, not the actual cost. Profits are made from the hyperinflated (bogus) prices off the backs of those who are poor and/or uninsured (by the way, the health care industry says they have to do that to cover the costs of those who do not pay their medical bills. I don't buy it. I did some research on this and only 4% to 7% do not pay their bills).
Example: I live in an area with an Adventist health care system. These people (whose morality I greatly applaud) actually charge self-pay patients their actual cost. One day when I was uninsured I got a blood test and received a bill for $535.00. It was a mistake, I had been billed the insurance company price. I called Adventist and told them I was self pay and they said they would adjust it. The new bill to me (their actual cost) was $37.00!
Not all hospitals/doctors are so generous and most bill self-pay patients at the insurance billed prices.
If the medical industry billed honestly (cost + a reasonable profit margin) and the insurance industry reimbursed in full rather than a fraction of hyperinflated prices, costs could and would be greatly reduced, but then the insurance companies wouldn't be able to charge the premium prices.
Another issue:
Health care insurance is the only insurance that pays for up to 100% coverage (no deductable). This is not what insurance is for and it is driving costs up. Our car insurance does not cover routine maintenance, it covers catastrophic situations beyond our control. Homeowner's insurance does not cover routine maintenance, it covers catastrophic situations beyond our control. We pay more out-of-pocket to maintain our homes and cars than we do for our own bodies! What's wrong with this picture?
Health care should also cover only catastrophic situations beyond our control. The people who have low or no-deductable insurance are driving up prices for everyone else and helping to keep the uninsured uninsured. Deductables should be on a sliding scale across the board, based on income.
I make good money and can afford routine maintenance on my health. I can pay out-of-pocket up to $5000 per year, but it has never even come near that amount. The most I have paid on an annual basis is around $1,500. Do I like it? No. Is it the morally right thing to do? Yes. And it is a heck of a lot cheaper for me than paying the higher premiums for office visits 4 times per year and one annual physical ($200.00 per month rather than $500.00 per month).
If companies want to offer cadillac insurance to entice employees, they should pay the deductable cost out of THEIR pockets and purchase the high deductable policies for their employees. This would be less expensive for the employers and would keep insurance costs down.
It is my opinion that morally, deductables should be determined on income. Here is the other part of that. If the poor paid only the deductable they could afford, they would be more likely to get routine preventative care and head off many major health issues down the road. Saves everyone money.
Here's the deal. Large corporations do not want to keep insurance costs down because 1.) it is a large write off for them 2.) they are heavily invested in the health care industry. Republicans don't want to keep health care costs down because 1.) big dollar donations from health care constituants, and 2.) they are heavily invested in the health care industry.
I wonder how many people who are poor/uninsured are against health care reform. The only people I have heard of being nay-sayers are those whose companies are paying for health benefits and people on medicare who don't have to pay. It would be an interesting poll to see how people stand on healthcare reform based on whether they are self-paying insured, uninsured, and/or poor.
As I understand it, most patient needs are not in urgent need of medical care thus there isn't any large protests because most people do fine... however, when you do have urgent needs, that's where public plans fail because the system is already overtaxed as it is... Regardless, once the public plan hits, it will be as it was thought to be... nobody will treat them and when they do, it will be on a low tier care system whereas those with private plans will receive higher care and wider acceptance... then the government will "mandate" ridiculous laws because of the inequity and then nobody will get treated... equal burden, I suppose... even though you are paying for their burden and now will have to suffer the same burden as you pay for yourself as well... ironic...
Go back and read post #39. The Canadian system seems to work very well.
Go back and read post #39. The Canadian system seems to work very well.
Yes, it works so well that they banned private insurance... pretty funny... I guess they don't want people to realize what they "could of have"... regardless, this isn't the system that is being put in place over here anyways... its moot to even talk about it... and here may be a surprise for you... the Canadian system isn't the perfect system as many people here try to make it out to be... if something sounds too good, it probably is... I don't expect others to be blindly supporters of something that is not great and not to ask questions which is what most pro-UHC supporters want... less questions...
Yes, we do want socialized medicine.
70% of Americans, that is.
However, your piece of corporate propaganda cannot explain why Canadians are more satisfied with their system than are we with ours.
Their point (I am not republican) is that the government controlled medical care will lead to lower standards. Waiting times are crucial with many patients (regardless if Canadians are more or less happy with their system). The argument is that resources (medical facilities, doctors, etc) are limited while the needs grow constantly. As we have seen, cost of healthcare increases exponentially. At some point, the government will not be able to satisfy the needs at current level and medical care will deteriorate. What is the answer to that? (BTW, I lived in countries where it happened in reality).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Derf
Ask a Canadian if they know anybody who has ever done that (travelled to the U.S. for treatment). I know of no one but I do know of many people who have had excellent cancer treatment in Canada some of which were done on an emergency basis.
There is a wave of patients from all over the world, coming to the US for medical care. They arrive from many countries, including Europe. As a matter of fact, revenues of some US hospitals depend heavily on these foreign patients.
Interesting video but I knew it was some kind of political propaganda. Towards the end, the narrator says that the current single payer system in Canada "failed", which is a total lie. It is not a perfect system by any means but it works well most of the time. I knew there was a spin to it
Thank goodness that word was there to save you! Otherwise a little seed of reason might have taken root. This is an inside look at how the minds of the left thoroughly consider both sides of an issue. Nothing contrary to preconceived notions gets considered. In the future when they brag about their open minds we'll know exactly what they mean by that. This explains allot.
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Health care pricing
