The absolute JOKE that is American Health Care

[Steam Flyer]

Yeah… nothing wrong with that
and no one is turned away from medical treatment in any ER

Until the ER closes because the corporate ownership has determined it's not profitable to the 0.1%ers...

Oh wait, silly me, talking about stuff that actually happens in the real world USA. I apologize for interrupting your fantasy RWNJ daydream.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Until the ER closes because the corporate ownership has determined it's not profitable to the 0.1%ers...

Oh wait, silly me, talking about stuff that actually happens in the real world USA. I apologize for interrupting your fantasy RWNJ daydream.

Scare tactics

 

[veni vidi vici]

Again, you prove that you have no clue what you are talking about.

- emergency care is not health care
- as has been pointed out above in this thread, emergency room wait times are similar in Canada and the US (as well as other places).
- the only feature of US emergency rooms that is not seen elsewhere is that in the US, after they are done treating you, they hound you with bills (whether or not you have insurance), and if you don't have insurance, they will not stop until you are bankrupt.

Lol.. and abortion is health care

 

[Ishmael]

Canadian health care is under attack though. By conservative premiers who want to privatize, since it's working so well in the USA.

Working well to line politicians' pockets, if nothing else. Follow the money. $$$$$$$$

 

[Expat Canuck]

Yeah… nothing wrong with that

Well, except for when the people who loose their homes due to emergency room medical bills end end up on the streets and in a RWNJ meme about Democrat run cities.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Well, except for when the people who loose their homes due to emergency room medical bills end end up on the streets and in a RWNJ meme about Democrat run cities.

Let’s use Democrat run cities as examples of liberal progressive blah blah success?
Pick any city and show why it’s better today than say…. Anytime in the last 50 years

 

[Expat Canuck]

Let’s use Democrat run cities as examples of liberal progressive blah blah success?
Pick any city and show why it’s better today than say…. Anytime in the last 50 years

thanks for proving my point.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Well, except for when the people who loose their homes due to emergency room medical bills end end up on the streets and in a RWNJ meme about Democrat run cities.

Let’s use Democrat run cities as examples of liberal progressive blah blah success?
Pick any city and show why it’s better today than say…. Anytime in the last 50 years

Hey V3 do you even realize he predicted your script?

 

[Clove Hitch]

When I worked in the hospital we'd have to flush the IV every so often with 10cc of saline to keep it working.

Found out that the hospital was billing $125 every time I did it because it included assessment of the IV site for infiltration patency Etc

And nurses have to chart that they get it or they get in trouble

 

[veni vidi vici]

Lol
The Department of Education ( Great Society)
Worked out so great
Let’s turn Health Care over to liboids and the government

 

[Expat Canuck]

Yeah… nothing wrong with that
and no one is turned away from medical treatment in any ER

AS I said... emergency care is NOT healthcare. Here is a typical quote from one of any number of T1 FB groups, by an American describing their current situation.

"I hate our healthcare system. Changed jobs a few months ago, which brought with it a change in insurance. Been trying to get in with a dr since the new insurance kicked in. So far no luck, and I am running out of supplies. Currently have 6 days of pump supplies left, don’t have any long acting insulin, stopped using my Dexcom because the transmitter died. The soonest appointment I can get is still 14 days away, urgent care said they can’t prescribe a new insulin. Trying to come up with ideas on how to make it and hating how hard it is to try to manage diabetes."

Please, V-cubed, explain how the awesome American system is working for this person.

 

[Fat Point Jack]

Pay check garnished for Social Security and Medicare
for starters
and then only to have those funds plundered for a long list frivolous social programs and other governmental programs

A small financial sacrifice by you so that many can get freedom from worry about paying for getting sick or because they could never get a job with a pension or various other reasons that their old age was not secured.

...of the United States in order to form a more perfect union.

Cut with the negative waves.

 

[veni vidi vici]

AS I said... emergency care is NOT healthcare. Here is a typical quote from one of any number of T1 FB groups, by an American describing their current situation.

"I hate our healthcare system. Changed jobs a few months ago, which brought with it a change in insurance. Been trying to get in with a dr since the new insurance kicked in. So far no luck, and I am running out of supplies. Currently have 6 days of pump supplies left, don’t have any long acting insulin, stopped using my Dexcom because the transmitter died. The soonest appointment I can get is still 14 days away, urgent care said they can’t prescribe a new insulin. Trying to come up with ideas on how to make it and hating how hard it is to try to manage diabetes."

Please, V-cubed, explain how the awesome American system is working for this person.

One man’s poor experience does not define the American health care system.
Why do the fetus shredder’s refer to abortion as health care?
Sorry for your diabetes , seriously.
Insulin could be made cheaper than beer… it’s not complicated.

 

[F_L]

I can't believe I'm posting in PA but my 2 cents.
Took a friend to one of the minor emergency centers for a foot injury. He had no insurance so they came up with an rough estimate of costs ~$750 costs to included office & doc visit, xray, tetanus, etc. Also said after evaluation they could "work with him" and give a firm number. The cost end up ~$350 for all the above.
Similar experience with Mrs F_L. Took her to the same place. We have insurance but high deductible. When they asked about insurance we just responded "private pay". She had fallen on her elbow and the estimate was ~$800 if she needed a cast. They brought the total bill with cast down to ~$450.
Why is the cash payment so much cheaper than insurance? Is filing insurance claims and collections really almost 50% of their cost?

 

[Expat Canuck]

One man’s poor experience does not define the American health care system.
.

How many examples similar to that one do you need to be convinced that the American system sucks?

Insulin could be made cheaper than beer… it’s not complicated.

Once again, you prove that you have no clue what you are talking about. There are dozens of new insulin variants brought to market each year. Each one performs slightly differently, and every patient reacts to each one differently. What works best for one person, may be a total failure for another. When people talk about how great it is that you can get insulin at Walmart for $20 a vial, they have no clue that what is available is an older version, which has a very poor activity profile (if you want to live anything approaching a normal lifestyle). And insulin is typically only one of several medications that Type 1's take to control the disease, and other related autoimmune diseases. Not to mention all the other supplies (needles, test strips, glucose monitors, pumps, pump supplies etc, etc, etc....).
"Cheap" insulin is not a panacea.

 

[veni vidi vici]

I can't believe I'm posting in PA but my 2 cents.
Took a friend to one of the minor emergency centers for a foot injury. He had no insurance so they came up with an rough estimate of costs ~$750 costs to included office & doc visit, xray, tetanus, etc. Also said after evaluation they could "work with him" and give a firm number. The cost end up ~$350 for all the above.
Similar experience with Mrs F_L. Took her to the same place. We have insurance but high deductible. When they asked about insurance we just responded "private pay". She had fallen on her elbow and the estimate was ~$800 if she needed a cast. They brought the total bill with cast down to ~$450.
Why is the cash payment so much cheaper than insurance? Is filing insurance claims and collections really almost 50% of their cost?

It’s a massive headache for the provider to navigate. The billing for the same procedure with the same doctor is different depending upon the insurance and the maze of billing codes!
I had a endoscopy, no charge or very little, next year as a follow up a surprising bill. The first was coded as diagnostic and the second something else. Word games, pissed patient and pissed doctor because the patient, me , was raising cane!
Too many hands in the payment line.
There are “boutique “ medical practices with exclusive clients all cash.
My dentist of 20 years understands I am not on my wife’s work insurance and I told him I would pay cash and the bills are smaller than before. I do then submit the bills to my Medicare plan and get reimbursed. Games medical billing games.

 

[130lights]

I can't believe I'm posting in PA but my 2 cents.
Took a friend to one of the minor emergency centers for a foot injury. He had no insurance so they came up with an rough estimate of costs ~$750 costs to included office & doc visit, xray, tetanus, etc. Also said after evaluation they could "work with him" and give a firm number. The cost end up ~$350 for all the above.
Similar experience with Mrs F_L. Took her to the same place. We have insurance but high deductible. When they asked about insurance we just responded "private pay". She had fallen on her elbow and the estimate was ~$800 if she needed a cast. They brought the total bill with cast down to ~$450.
Why is the cash payment so much cheaper than insurance? Is filing insurance claims and collections really almost 50% of their cost?

Hospitals do not collect ‘charges’. Typical collections are 40-50% of billed $, unless it’s a case involving an attorney or auto insurance.

Hospital finances are very convoluted.

 

[giegs]

Why is the cash payment so much cheaper than insurance? Is filing insurance claims and collections really almost 50% of their cost?

Yes, the insurance industry is mostly parasitic and one of the biggest reasons healthcare in the US under performs compared to similarly developed countries. Having a system with many often profit-driven parties trying to get their cut de-prioritizes patient outcomes and increases system costs.

Practices trying to operate outside that system have a lot of advantages but also probably have a lot of unmitigated liability exposure.

 

[Raz'r]

I can't believe I'm posting in PA but my 2 cents.
Took a friend to one of the minor emergency centers for a foot injury. He had no insurance so they came up with an rough estimate of costs ~$750 costs to included office & doc visit, xray, tetanus, etc. Also said after evaluation they could "work with him" and give a firm number. The cost end up ~$350 for all the above.
Similar experience with Mrs F_L. Took her to the same place. We have insurance but high deductible. When they asked about insurance we just responded "private pay". She had fallen on her elbow and the estimate was ~$800 if she needed a cast. They brought the total bill with cast down to ~$450.
Why is the cash payment so much cheaper than insurance? Is filing insurance claims and collections really almost 50% of their cost?

because the insurance company doesn't pay list, either. I spent 4 days in Stanford Hospital system, couple years back. Bill was north of $100k. Insurance paid about $13k

 

[Steam Flyer]

I can't believe I'm posting in PA but my 2 cents.
Took a friend to one of the minor emergency centers for a foot injury. He had no insurance so they came up with an rough estimate of costs ~$750 costs to included office & doc visit, xray, tetanus, etc. Also said after evaluation they could "work with him" and give a firm number. The cost end up ~$350 for all the above.
Similar experience with Mrs F_L. Took her to the same place. We have insurance but high deductible. When they asked about insurance we just responded "private pay". She had fallen on her elbow and the estimate was ~$800 if she needed a cast. They brought the total bill with cast down to ~$450.
Why is the cash payment so much cheaper than insurance? Is filing insurance claims and collections really almost 50% of their cost?

Yes.
Health insurance is hugely expensive. It's a whole parallel system with it's own doctors and nurses who are paid to sit in cubicles reviewing forms and denying payment. The "health insurance" companies have whole office buildings full of lawyers and accountants.

They don't pay on time, and they cut payments. This costs health care providers, real doctors and nurses, time and money because they have to argue and wait.

It gets worse, because practices have learned how expensive it is to have to fight months for every penny, they have built-in overcharging. They now have to hire people to work for them who do literally nothing to help patients, all they do is fight insurance companies. You pay for that.

And possibly the worst development of all, the patient is no longer the customer. The insurance company is the customer. We all pay for that with worse outcomes.

It's almost as though the USA's health care finance system was deliberately designed to siphon out money for no good purpose; the service of pure unalloyed greed.

Oh wait