Canadian Healthcare System "Imploding", page 4

Originally posted by Credge

Originally posted by Dermo

Fair enough, if healthcare is not to be "socialized", then don't charge $100k to set and pin a broken leg.. because thats exactly where the US problem has arisen.

That's not entirely correct.

It's the INSURANCE that makes the price expensive. If you go in with cash in hand to the doctor it's not that bad. Much, much cheaper. There are still problems, that is, they still have to run unneeded procedures on you from time to time to lower the chances that you sue, but it's really not bad.

At some point people forgot that you don't need insurance to see a doctor. While some clinics will not see you unless you have it, there are plenty of family doctors, hospitals, and other things that have no problem seeing you if you actually have the cash.

I wanted to interject here with my own experience. I'm not sure what hospitals you're using, but I've never enountered a situation like this. Insurance companies negotiate favorable prices for operations/tests/medicines with providers to increase their profits. This means that Insurance company A has good prices at Hospitals X, Y, and Z, which is why your insurance company can dictate where you go to receive treatment. The insurance company wins because they cut costs, and the providers win because they're guaranteed a larger volume of patients (and thus more money).

Individuals with no health insurance do not have the buying power of an insurance company and cannot guarantee to increase a provider's revenue - in fact, the provider takes a financial risk on payment from an individual with no insurance, therefore that individual will receive the same quality care but at a much greater cost.

For example, my friend had his appendix out last year. The uninsured cost of the operations and tests was over 60,000 dollars. However, he was covered under his insurance plan, so the total cost of the operation was 10,000 dollars - of which he had to pay a miniscule amount. This is because the insurance company was able to negotiate a favorable rate with the area hospital and cut the costs of the operation.

Ever heard of HMOs and PPOs? This is what they do. The HMO/PPO dictates where you go, who can see, and what can be covered. Unless money isn't an object to you, you really don't have a choice in the matter.

American healthcare is broken and ridiculous. Something needs to be done.

This article is pretty conveniently timed, don't you think? We don't hear anything about healthcare in the media, and then at the peak of the debate, suddenly an article surfaces that Canadian healthcare is going to explode? Smells a little funny!