Hospitals ripping you off

How much does a lack of regulations have to do with why places like Canada spend half and Japan spends a third per person of what the US does?
Does spending less correlate with equal quality? Are the supply and demand factors constant?

Can socialized medical systems truly say they are providing for demand at a great price, considering their consumers don't have other choices? See my comment above about socialism.
 


guerilla, i respect your opinion in looking at from a purely "economic" perspective. as i mentioned above though, i don't think we even SHOULD HAVE TO look at the most important thing in the world...our own healthcare through the economics lens. you know? at the end of the day, people in other countries get treated and simply put.....they do not have to worry about taking another job and forcing their young adult children out of school and into the workforce to treat their illness. this type of shit just does not happen that often other places and when you remind them about the shit over here...they literally just laugh and shake their heads. yeah, our country is awesome, but people's lives DO get ruined because they can't afford basic healthcare. Rock on USA.

i just do not understand our priorities as a country anymore. we can argue economics, correlation, causation, until the cows come home, but at the end of the day we are talking about life and death essentially. yes, people are actual directly/indirectly dying because of our current healthcare system. i believe that when we even HAVE TO consider keeping the system as is at this point in time, well it is truly doing a disservice to those people and entire generations of families that have been horribly affected by our shitty healthcare system. to me, if we are CLEARLY so far behind in our healthcare system (when looked at from ALL types of different angles, not just financial, etc) when compared to the other major developed nations....then we do need to make some changes. there is no more room for debating i feel like anymore. i can think of a few other budget cuts that we should probably consider before implying that we don't have enough money to provide healthcare to everyone in this country.

people act like our current system is sustainable as it is or something? really? just let it go on like no big deal? that worked well for us with the whole banking thing? im pretty sure that unpaid medicals bills are not putting people in these other countries into bankruptcy that often? im pretty sure they do not have to stop and debate when they get injured about whther or not they should just try to treat themselves because they are in a bind financially. a lot of those medical horror stories that the repubs spoonfed the sheeple are just simply not true when you actually personally know and speak with people in these countries. at one point, their argument included the "usa medical tourism" thing about how all these Europeans were coming over here in droves for a crazy good healthcare. im not sure i believe this is happening on the level that they claim, purely based on speaking to people from other countries directly and also doing pretty extensive research on my own. if more people come here for basic healthcare than any other developed nation, please provide me some statistics, as I am just not seeing this to be the case.

and yes, bankruptcy is certainly not the end of the world....but why the hell are we saying that these two should EVER even become a FORCED DECISION for people here in the united states? THIS is the debate we are having in 2011? i want our country to be the best place on earth. to be the best country on earth, we really need to be able to provide healthcare for EVERYONE from ANY demographic. what do you see happening in the future as the population swells? all privatization, little regulation? really? we always seem to find enough money to go out and try to make more money draining other countries' resources. we always seem to find enough money (no questions asked mind you) to go overseas and kill people. but somehow, according to some of you guys on here, we don't have enough money to provide healthcare for everyone here in the United States. and somehow, because i think our country at this point in 2011 should be able to provide for this ESSENTIAL RIGHT that is really...in the end...WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT in the grand scheme of things, i am told that im just a liberal and must hate America. lol. gotta love it. (not speaking about posters here, just from past arguments)

I want America to be better for everyone, not just the people "WITH" and the people born into families of those "WITH". If we can find money to do all the stupid ass shit we do around the world these days and continue on with the whole dog and pony show, we can provide a public option in our healthcare system. bottomline.

i agree that many of these developed countries' systems are flawed as well, but to even have to debate about including a public option at this point just kind of sickens me. lets help the people that are dying and in desperate need of assistance first. then we can talk about what system is the "best", or what types of regulations really "work", or what truly makes economic sense for our country in the long run. the same people against the public option would probably overwhelmingly support another war. i don't believe that many of you on here would, but i'd be willing to bet that the majority of people AGAINST the public option would not raise an eyebrow if Obama said we are officially going into pakistan, doubling troops in afghanistan, etc. realistically, i don't see the future of our healthcare system looking like it is right now. what do you guys see it looking like? if you guys think that the U.S. will NEVER have a public option....i'd love to know how you view that unfolding...or NOT unfolding I should say. seriously.
 
WALL_OF_TEXT.jpg



Kidding. :)
 
People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?...It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice....They won the battle, but they haven't won the war....Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out.


Watch some porn :
 
guerilla, i respect your opinion in looking at from a purely "economic" perspective. as i mentioned above though, i don't think we even SHOULD HAVE TO look at the most important thing in the world...our own healthcare through the economics lens. you know?
No, I don't know what it is like to ignore reason.

Economics is reality based. It is about the consequences of different actions undertaken by humans.

If you want to make the world a better place, stop posting for government solutions, and start a business. Use your profits to create health care innovations that lower the price and increase access for everyone.

If you only want to argue that low prices should be enforced by the government at the barrel of a gun, then you're really not for helping people. You're for using violence against the people who have to fund your plans.

Government serves a group at the expense of another group.

The market is the only way to help everyone be better off.
 
The high cost is because of malpractice insurance. My grandfather founded one of the biggest hospitals in NJ with 11 other guys, and he sold his part because expenses were just so high and he felt horrible billing people the amount he had to. He said when he started the medical industry was actually about helping the patient, not having them dump their life savings to get treated. It is a result of people being able to sue entirely too easily for medical treatment.
 
Does spending less correlate with equal quality? Are the supply and demand factors constant?

No and that's addressed in what I linked to.

Can socialized medical systems truly say they are providing for demand at a great price, considering their consumers don't have other choices? See my comment above about socialism.
I don't think any country has a 100% or 0% socialized system. The US government already uses forced taxation to spend more per capita on health care and republicans have done their part in expanding that system. Japan has a larger percent of private practices than the US and most in Canada are also.
 
No, I don't know what it is like to ignore reason.

Economics is reality based. It is about the consequences of different actions undertaken by humans.

In this case, I like to think pure human emotion overides logic, so that is where our differences arise I think. And you won't hear me utter that in just about ANY other situation I'm afraid. "it is reality-based. the consequences of different actions undertaken by humans". everything we are discussing is "reality-based" in the most basic sense (emotion, reality-based examples of similar programs working elsewhere..flawed yes...but very HIGH CHANCES are that many properties/systems of socialized medicine we see in other geopraphic areas could benefit us. it would be better than what we are seeing take place today. the entire country is not certainly not going to adhere to your personal idea of logic as governing the will of the collective people when it comes to their own livelyhood., so imo this doesn't really apply here.

If you want to make the world a better place, stop posting for government solutions, and start a business. Use your profits to create health care innovations that lower the price and increase access for everyone.

Are you kidding me? Tell that to people going through SERIOUS life shit and do not have the resources and access to the resources, etc. the ones that have to make dumbass horrible decisions regarding "affordability" in this current system as is. If we want to talk economics, look at THOSE numbers. Bankruptcy, etc. we cant tweak our shit a little and help these people out?

and we can't tax the RICHEST PEOPLE in this country a bit more maybe to help the people in need out, etc? REGARDLESS IN ANY SYSTEM there will be abusers, im sure anyone would agree that there needs to be MORE regulation in THIS regard in several areas. What you suggest in the quote above equates to me as: "people should stop voicing their opinions about the world and just start a business instead of worrying about their own and their families livelyhoods. just start a business and don't worry about that injury/accident/illness that can threaten you or your families life soon, in the near future, or even in the distant future". tell sick patients (etc) to innovate is your logical answer in this specific case of the public option, really? that is honestly what i see it as you're equating things here. what you suggest is great in an ideal "business-man" world, but AT some point (especially as we grow a bit older i like to think too), I tend to believe we as a human species can throw in a little compassion into that "reality-based, consequences" etc thing you mentioned. ya know? i guess its believing too much in this SPECIFIC scenerio of having a public option.

If you only want to argue that low prices should be enforced by the government at the barrel of a gun, then you're really not for helping people. You're for using violence against the people who have to fund your plans.

Government serves a group at the expense of another group.

The market is the only way to help everyone be better off.

in this case, again, i would agree with you on just about ANY other specific scenerio....EXCEPT OUR OWN AND OUR FAMILIES LIVES. that is my opinion, and i do value yours obviously...because I'd agree in most cases about the whole "market" thing. we need massive reforms, and at least a public option SHOULD have happened in my opinion.
 
Who do you think pays for free government healthcare? It ain't free bro.
Sure, but don't you think it's at all messed up in that many people would avoid calling an ambulance/going to ER, because they know what it's likely to cost them? Imo, money shouldn't ever be something to be worrying about in a medical emergency.
 
Medical tourism FTW. World class care, way better than the U.S. in my personal experience, and the total cost is less than the deductible back home.

Wife have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst at Bumrungrad Hospital (one of the world's top med tour destinations), lovely job by the doctor, 4 nights private room with an extra bed for me, pampered by an army of fetching nurses, total cost US$1,800 (charged it on my credit card). I'll never go back to the U.S.

If it's not an emergency get on a plane. Also, check into insurance companies that are encouraging and covering medical tourism -> Health Net embraces medical tourism | The Medical Travel Site
 
Sure, but don't you think it's at all messed up in that many people would avoid calling an ambulance/going to ER, because they know what it's likely to cost them? Imo, money shouldn't ever be something to be worrying about in a medical emergency.

situations like the one you mention....to me its honestly ATROCIOUS at this point in the human species timeline kind of thing, ya know? let alone happening WHILE we do some of the dumbass shit we currently do as a country. im just as mad as alot of republicans/independents about the government control/spending in many areas. but lets cut to the chase here, shouldn't healthcare be numero UNO on that to-do list of societal priories and organizational initiatives-type deal? under any "economical" or "logical" perspective or guideline? life, death, that sort of thing IS governed by reason (in SOME peoples opinion i guess, but thats a whole other argument lol)...but i guess it comes down to the fundamental argument of whether or not you believe compassion, emotion, type stuff overrides pure logic and reasoning in this ONE SPECIFIC CASE IN POINT.....life, health, death...THAT to me is logical. those three things are a core value to me as an individual, and i'd like to think the people in our country would hold a similar value on this one specific issue So, we should treat all three with the most urgency and compassion, etc that we can.

Medical tourism FTW. World class care, way better than the U.S. in my personal experience, and the total cost is less than the deductible back home.

THAT is what I hear from just about everyone I've ever encountered and just about everyone my own personal social circle seems to encounter as well. it also confirms what i've read through pretty extensive research. the topic honestly fascinates me more than people's inability to recognize important healthcare solutions.

i looked that up, that hospital looks SICK (in a good, healthy way). the hospital's website looks sick as well. very clean:D
 
adding to above....we shouldnt treat death with urgency i suppose lol...but im going for more along the lines of giving those three things some "urgent compassion" of sorts. in the end, these are what we are and represent americans, and the rest of the world. without these values properly attended to, why have an organized society at all? we need to show them respect by devoting our scarce resources in the direction of healthcare reform.

imo, it says a lot about a society how they treat their people in need of fundamental shit like healthcare. and this is just another example of the united stated doing a pisspoor example in a basic core area, yet waving our finger at other countries or i dunno killing other people and our own citizens throughout the world for a lot more frivolous bullshit than LIFE and HEALTH.
 
The absence of proof, is not proof of absence.

That said,
reason.tv - Videos > Gridlock


Efficiency can only be calculated in the presence of competition. Socialized medicine isn't competitive, and so, cannot be said to be efficient versus alternatives because they are not tested by market participants.

Economically speaking, any socialistic system is a basketcase and fundamentally irrational.

So, 100% free market, no regulation then?

Always wanted to ask, and this jettisoning of all socialist ideas allows for the perfect segue.
 
and we can't tax the RICHEST PEOPLE in this country a bit more maybe to help the people in need out, etc?
You've got brass balls posting that on WF.

in this case, again, i would agree with you on just about ANY other specific scenerio....EXCEPT OUR OWN AND OUR FAMILIES LIVES.
So you suspend reason when it comes to your family?

...because I'd agree in most cases about the whole "market" thing. we need massive reforms, and at least a public option SHOULD have happened in my opinion.
Would you commit violence against and steal from innocent people to further the fortunes of yourself and your family?

I am for peace. Socialism leads to conflict.
 
Hospitals and just the overall medical field is corrupt. I had not visited the doctor much but last year I got a pain on my left arm and shoulder which floored me. My wife right got me to the car to go to the emergency room. I got there waited for 40 minutes for a doctor to see me and after 5 minutes she told me it was stress and I needed a muscle relaxant. Total price for that visit was $1,700!!!

UNREAL!
 
You've got brass balls posting that on WF.


So you suspend reason when it comes to your family?

I didn't realize people were so against a basic human right on here and put profit/economics before life and death issues. my bad. If wanting and believing that every single person in this country should be able to access affordable and quality healthcare worry-free is suspending reason in your personal opinion, then yes absolutely in your opinion i would be suspending reason? we definetley do not agree on this specific relationship between your personal idea of reason/logic and how it should sum of the collective will/values of others in this country regarding life and health and death issues in this specific scenario.

Would you commit violence against and steal from innocent people to further the fortunes of yourself and your family?

I am for peace. Socialism leads to conflict.

I would have to politely disagree with you here, on just about every level. And here I always thought conflict was the GOOD thing about the whole "marketplace thing"? There is no amount of "logic" that can explain to me why you would be for peace, yet against healthcare reform. It just does not compute in my head, I'm sorry. I do respect your opinion though.

As for socialism leading to conflict...not really sure on this one either. that is perhaps another dinner table argument aside from this one though. you cant really discuss the whole "redistribution" thing if your people aren't healthy enough to get by and be productive in your society because the system is just too costly as is for a plethora of reasons. kind of goes back to the whole "what really matters in the end" deal. those three core things...life....health...death.

however, if you truly feel that the public option here in the united states equates(ed) to someone robbing you at gun point and throwing reason out the window, well then i guess we gotta accept we have COMPLETELY different worldviews. can i just ask again what type of healthcare system you see existing here in 30 years?
 
Sure, but don't you think it's at all messed up in that many people would avoid calling an ambulance/going to ER, because they know what it's likely to cost them? Imo, money shouldn't ever be something to be worrying about in a medical emergency.

So you're saying that because I feel bad about a situation, I have to pay to fix the situation?

Why stop at U.S citizens? I feel bad for anyone in the world that has to avoid calling an ambulance, because it's going to cost them a lot of money.

So, since I feel bad for every human without health insurance, should I have to pay taxes to fix that too? If so, then that's going to bankrupt the United States.

This is a perfect example of why you shouldn't make arguments that appeal to emotion. It's a slippery slope.
 
^^^ a VERY slippery slope indeed...which is why it really only should apply to a few core things in modern day human society. in my opinion of course.

also, the whole bankrupting the united states thing doesn't really fly. the people OF the united states are bankrupt BECAUSE they can't afford the shit they need to live a healthy life FROM our current system.

i think it is safe to assume that our government would certainly stop at u.s citizens as well in this specific case in point (public healthcare) i'm pretty sure we actually do have SOME smart people in DC these days. many of which do adhere to sound logical principles imo, and many of these same "adherers to logic" also believe we need massive healthcare reform/public option/etc.

our point is that you shouldn't be worried about somehone who has to call the ambulance without insurance because it will cost them a lot of money. the point is, you should just be worried about the persons livelyhood, imo. cost/business ideals should not be a factor in this discussion at its most basic premise.

so are you also against proposed healthcare reform out of a sense of fear, as you stated above? a sense of fear of an over-reaching all-controlling government that will develop out of significant reforms in several areas? this is a genuine question. i truly want to understand why you feel the way you do. i agree to disagree, it would just be nice to truly understand my fellow citizens on core issues such as these.
 
If wanting and believing that every single person in this country should be able to access affordable and quality healthcare worry-free is suspending reason in your personal opinion, then yes absolutely in your opinion i would be suspending reason?

lol You have missed guerilla's point entirely, despite his displaying the patience of Job with you.

guerilla's positions are logically derived (I know them well). Yours are nothing more than emotion. I can tell they are based on ignorance. Ignorance can be cured. Educate yourself. It is not enough to simply feel. Any 12-year-old girl can do that. You must reason your way to insight.

This will be my only post to you in this thread. If you want to learn, learn. If you want to emote, good luck to you.