Comments on: The 5 Real Reasons American Health Care Is So Expensive and Ineffective

By: Save Your Life and Your Family’s Health

Save Your Life and Your Family’s Health — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:37:19 +0000

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By: cw

cw — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:50:36 +0000

that is the crux of so much of it. Without insurance you have no barganing price. That is just SO WRONG. That is what needs to be changed. That is true price fixing and isn’t that against the law somewhere. How can you logicly say that someone owes $$$$$ much but paitent b only has to pay $$. for the same service.? That is the ONLY reason we have insurance. We can’t even aofford to use it becuase our deductable is so high. it is for some thing that we may get down the road… how pathetic is that? I personally think insurance companies are just scam artists and no better than thugs taking protection money. If one was to break down and try to exsplain it to a novice we would see how ludicrous it really is. Not to mention it is subsidized by our tax monies where the risk is so high no insurer would take it on. ( i.e home owners insurance in hurrican, and other prone areas).

By: SH

SH — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:28:42 +0000

As Winston Churchill said about democracy, so we can say about socialized medicine, “it’s the worst sort, except all the others that have been tried”. As a native of the UK, now living in the US for 25 years and working in health care as an RN, I can attest to that. Insurance companies and for-profit business has so place in my industry. My son was recently hospitalized for 4 days for an appendectomy. I requested an itemized bill of charges. The “standard” charge JUST FOR THE SURGERY AND HOSPITALIZATION NOT INCLUDING THE SURGEON AND ANETHESIOLOGIST, WAS $56,OOO however, the facilty involved had agreed with my insurance company that $12,000 would cover it … what is wrong with this picture? What is wrong is that people with no, or lousy insurance will be stuck with the inflated $56,000 and face financial ruin, when actually $12,000 would cover it.
And yes, the doctors and residents I work with bust their ass’ and make great sacrifices for their profession. My 16 year old son is considering Med School and my take-home to him is, “you’ve gotta really want it, ‘cos man, it’s tough”
And yes, our system’s lack of focus on Primary Care is madness. I work in the community visiting the chronically sick in their homes and witness every day how a lowly paid RN can prevent thousands of dollars in hospitalization by identifying problems early. In my field, our government/Medicare has their act together, they are generous with home visits ‘cos they know the saving.

By: Carol

Carol — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:13:41 +0000

Add’l things to also consider, coming from someone who works in the health care system:
1. There is a great deal of waste that never used to exist, e.g. everything is disposable now; very little sterilizing and reusing. It also is unfortunately part of the change in our culture – too much paper wasted & too much throw-away.
2. Preventive medicine should be a priority for everyone – lifestyle.
3. Gov’t regulations create a huge amt of paper work which takes time. Time=money.
4. Many hospitals feel they have to look like luxury hotels in order to compete or because they think people want this – priorities.

By: Carolynn McLaughlin

Carolynn McLaughlin — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:25:38 +0000

I love your view, and the straightforward way that you make your points. As a person who has tackled health issues for 4 decades and who must take 4 medications per day to maintain equilibrium, I thank you. Let people disagree! Maybe they haven’t been behind the health 8-ball.

By: Bill G.

Bill G. — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:14:55 +0000

When hospitals became profit making institutions and the drug companies recovered their research costs through the costs of drugs, the whole system fell apart
I purchase drugs in Mexico in original packaging for $14. They would cost me $74 in the U.S.

By: EMoore (http:www.helium.com/users/188961

EMoore (http:www.helium.com/users/188961 — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:11:10 +0000

Yes, I agree that health care is far too costly and must be changed. I am a retired RN and I’ve been on both sides of the fence. There is good and bad on both sides. There are those engaged in health care that are in it for the money; there are those using the system that uses it because they don’t have to pay for it. Both of these groups are irresponsible.

The only ‘cure’ for both of these is education at an early age about the sanctity of the body and that medicine is a last choice treatment and then to be used with the careful guidance of good and honest doctors. Common sense needs to be a key word in health care and everyone needs to know that for every minor ailment a drug isn’t needed.

By: Laura Allen

Laura Allen — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:35:41 +0000

The last independent GP in my county just “retired” last week…or rather, he was forced out of business, as he stated in his letter to the newspaper, by sky-high malpractice insurance, and the high cost of doing business with the insurance companies and Medicare. Every other physician practice in our county has been bought out by the hospital, who has been bought out by a huge conglomerate. It’s hard to get primary care when there aren’t any primary care physicians. The only way to see one here is to go to the emergency room and hope to see an intelligent resident who isn’t overworked and sleep deprived.

By: Victoria LeForestier

Victoria LeForestier — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:48:50 +0000

Kudos to Ron V May 18 post. He gets it. You obviously had no Doctors in your family, Maria as i did. The ones who dedicated their lives to their patients, went without sleep, gave up their family life and wrote off a ton of bad debt. They deserve every penny.

By: Ron V

Ron V — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:34:31 +0000

Its easy to condemn the “system” rather than look for the root causes. I have a little different take on the issue.

1. Maybe we have more specialists because the generalists are being priced out by the high cost of malpractice insurance. You need to earn more to pay the increased expenses. Also (before I get into my anti-lawyer rant), when was the last medical school opened in this country? The law of supply and demand and the high cost of education has a lot to do with doctors wanting to make money.

2. Doctors are in high demand and incur much debt just to open their doors.

3. Insurance companies are incentivised to deny claims to those who need it most? Easy to say, but hard to prove, other than anecdotally. Insurance companies are businesses and are entitled to make a profit (just like the evil oil companies that earn an “exhorbitant” 8%). Maybe you should talk to the stockholders and tell them that they shouldn’t take a dividend, that they should risk their life savings with no reasonable rate of return. BTW, most of these stockholders are your neighbors, your mom and dad, anyone who is in a 401k or mutual funds is that evil stockholder who wants your money. What is your retirement money invested in, and do you expect it to go up over the years?

4. Yes, we have forgotten our responsibilities to take care of ourselves. We have a high rate of morbidity, not because healthcare is unavailable, costly, or ineffective, but because we have a high rate of smokers, obesity, diabetes, laziness, stress, and overall careless living. We have developed the attitude that says: “It can’t be my fault and there must be someone I can sue over this!”

5. Yes, I suppose we should just roll over and die when we a serious illness.

Needless to say, I think you are not in danger of being accused of critical thinking, Maria. Just keep dealing in emotion and it’ll all be fine.