As Hospital Prices Soar, a Stitch Tops $500

jrod
reply to post by starfoxxx

 

If you want the US to be a first world country, we need first world health care. We do not have that. Every other modernized country in the world has some form of universal health care. Why can't the US?

The health insurance industry is in the business of ripping people off, I refuse to support that industry. When making a profit is more important than one's health we all loose.

The insurance companies are as evil as the banks and the government. Baby boomers paid their premiums
for years to insurance for their profit and now that the nation needs medical coverage because we are getting older, rotten insurance companies deny our claims.

jrod
reply to post by starfoxxx

 

If you want the US to be a first world country, we need first world health care. We do not have that. Every other modernized country in the world has some form of universal health care. Why can't the US?

The health insurance industry is in the business of ripping people off, I refuse to support that industry. When making a profit is more important than one's health we all loose.

We do have first world healthcare--the most advanced in the world with the majority of new procedures, medications, equipment in the world being developed here. We are the source of all that for the rest of the world. There is nothing wrong with our healthcare...the issue is who pays for it.

People want to sue for millions is the slightest thing goes wrong--but they don't want to pay for the cost litigations causes.

People want drugs to be perfectly safe and work perfectly--but they don't want to pay for the billions of dollars it takes to get new drugs to market.

People want the latest and greatest right now but don't want to pay for it.

People want to be able to smoke, drink, do drugs, eat crap, not exercise but don't want to foot the bill for all of the health consequences of their poor choices.

People vote for feel good government coverage and laws that force hospitals to treat the poor and indigent and illegals but complain when the cost for that coverage is reflected on their personal bill.

People want a lot of things but they want someone else to pay for it. The something for nothing attitude is the root of many of our social ills.

muse7
These so called "patriots" and "defenders of the constitution" are a joke and they are the ones that are holding back this country.

They will go out and vote for the next flag waving, gun toting tea party candidate that is selling the latest conservative taking point about how welfare moochers are driving this country into bankruptcy and how we need to give more tax cuts to corporations and CEO's.

Societies that choose conservative politics will by definition not move forward.

Except we went from nothing to the most prosperous nation on earth using exactly those "evil tea-bag" principles in the blink of a historical eye. Your leftist "progressive" principles are what have brought us down into mediocrity just as they have most of the west.

muse7
I must have gotten lucky when I received my 5 stitches on my knee after an accident at work!

30 minutes at the hospital for 5 stitches only came out to $1,600

You didn't pay for just hose 5 stitches: you paid for the hundred stitches that the other patients didn't pay for thanks to EMTLA laws pushed by leftist collectivists.

FatherStacks
There are two main reasons (In my opinion) healthcare in the U.S. has, in some cases, ridiculous price schedules. 1.) About half the people who visit the hospital actually pay their bill (I'm not passing judgements, just stating a fact- I understand there are legitimate cases where people can't pay). and 2.) Frivolent law suits.

Actually, litigation costs and malpractice insurance only account for 1 to 1.5 percent of the cost of our health care system.

reply to post by DelMarvel


And the costs of FEAR of litigation?

FatherStacks
reply to post by DelMarvel

 

And the costs of FEAR of litigation?

And that is the valid point: the cost of litigation, IE payouts, may seem insignificant, but the true cost of our litigious society is much. much. much more--from over use of expensive testing (appendicitis used to be a clinical diagnosis, now a CT scan is standard of care), to lengthy trials and packaging of materials (a screw that costs a nickel at sears costs a $100 if it medical grade), etc and so forth. At each and every step of the process of manufacture, development, education, and distribution of medical goods and services, the cost of litigation is tacked on until the end product is much more expensive than it should be .

muse7
These so called "patriots" and "defenders of the constitution" are a joke and they are the ones that are holding back this country.

They will go out and vote for the next flag waving, gun toting tea party candidate that is selling the latest conservative taking point about how welfare moochers are driving this country into bankruptcy and how we need to give more tax cuts to corporations and CEO's.

Societies that choose conservative politics will by definition not move forward.

And the next jack ass to offer hope and change with liberal policy the left will vote for in droves.

DESPITE EITHER side being completely incapable or willing to fix any of our problems, or work together to get # done.

NOPE all us idiots will continue to vote for Career politicians, no mater the banner they wave.

Its not a left/right thing, its not a Dem/rep thing, nor Lib/Cons.

Its a Greed problem, and as long as we continue to fall for their BS.

NOTHING changes.

NavyDoc

We do have first world healthcare--the most advanced in the world with the majority of new procedures, medications, equipment in the world being developed here. We are the source of all that for the rest of the world. There is nothing wrong with our healthcare...the issue is who pays for it.

This is true, but the majority of Americans do not have access to it.

We are behind the rest of the modern world in healthcare. Its not because of lawsuits, it is because profits are put over one's health. Unless that changes, the average American will be left with less than first world health care at a highly inflated costs.

NavyDoc

I wish I could view our healthcare system in such an optimistic and idealistic light; but the cruel and ugly side just keeps staring me in the face. We definitely have the potential to have the greatest healthcare system in the world, but we sure don't have it now, and we won't have it as long as we put profit (and greed) before the health and best interests of the people. I'm not trying to single you out, because I know you express the thoughts of many; but you enumerated your thoughts so well, and it's an issue dear to my heart, so I wanted to respond to you.

"We do have first world healthcare--the most advanced in the world with the majority of new procedures, medications, equipment in the world being developed here...."

Yes, indeed we do... the best procedures, medications and equipment that will make the patent holders the greatest amount of profit. Too often, the initial investment for research and development was made by the taxpayers, and yet due to ridiculous patent laws, we are then gouged by the corporations granted the license. In the meantime, not only are natural, less invasive and SAFER procedures neglected due to the lack of profit potential (due to not being patentable), they are often hidden, misrepresented, attacked and otherwise undermined by corporate and government parties. Never mind that the side effects and complications can be far more dangerous to us as well. As a direct result, too often the medical care available to use is not actually our best option -- but is too often the only option offered and sanctioned by the PTB. That's far from the best we can do.

"We are the source of all that for the rest of the world....."

... Who pay considerably less for the same procedures, medications and equipment, and again in large part because of ridiculous patent laws which apply only to us, passed by congress critters who put their campaign coffers before our health, for major donors who put their bank coffers before our health. This is shameful.

"There is nothing wrong with our healthcare..."

I so wish this were true, but it's not; medical malpractice would not be the #3 cause of death in this country (some say #1) if there were nothing wrong with our healthcare.... see above.

"...the issue is who pays for it...."

That's just one of my issues in regards to health care, obviously.

"People want to sue for millions is the slightest thing goes wrong--but they don't want to pay for the cost litigations causes...."

Apparently litigation would only account for 1.5% of our healthcare costs; given that medical malpractice is the #3 cause of death, and no doubt even more people are injured (but not killed), I'd say that's a pittance. It should probably be much higher for valid claims alone, but does not happen because the insurance companies defending any malpractice suits are much too well armed against the average Joe, and consequently few attorneys will take on such cases.

"People want drugs to be perfectly safe and work perfectly..."

It's not that simple. People want medications that heal & promote health -- including nutritional and herbal supplements -- that offer greater benefits than risks, and which are fairly priced.

"--but they don't want to pay for the billions of dollars it takes to get new drugs to market...."

We already do pay billions of dollars to get new drugs to market. We pay thru government grants for research and development. We pay thru student grants and student loans for medical personnel (that are too often never paid back). We pay thru the government agencies that oversee drug production. We pay thru astronomical markups by Big Pharma. We pay thru side effects and complications that range from merely uncomfortable or inconvenient to life-threatening and even fatal. We pay thru the increased insurance costs (for those lucky enough to still have insurance... much less a prescription coverage plan). We pay by giving voluntarily of our hard-earned dollars to charities and causes. We pay. And yet too many of us are then priced out of reaping the benefits. It seems to me that those who are getting the drugs are the ones who are happy to take from those less fortunate for their own good health and fortune. Health re-distribution. Shameful.

"People want to be able to smoke, drink, do drugs, eat crap, not exercise but don't want to foot the bill for all of the health consequences of their poor choices...."

We'll talk about footing the bill for poor choices when corporations stop polluting our air, ground and water with their toxic chemical waste (including flouride)... when our drinking water is no longer tainted with the pharmaceuticals of others... when the animals we eat -- and therefore, us -- are no longer poisoned with hormones, antibiotics, GMOs, and other harmful substances that compromise our health all day every day... add to that list artificial sweeteners and fats, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, artificial dyes, chemical preservatives, etc. We'll also talk about what exactly constitutes "poor choices" when the PTB stop making such huge mistakes and giving us such poor medical advice that have such serious consequences for our health.

"People vote for feel good government coverage and laws that force hospitals to treat the poor and indigent and illegals but complain when the cost for that coverage is reflected on their personal bill..... People want a lot of things but they want someone else to pay for it. The something for nothing attitude is the root of many of our social ills."

Divide-and-conquer. Pit us against one another. Keep us fighting each other instead of fighting the PTB. Blaming our fellow Americans first is not the solution. We are not the problem. We are the weakest chain in the link, the ones with the least amount of money, power or control. Please don't give a free pass to those who do have the power, the control... and the MONEY. Greed and power has turned what could be our greatest triumph (the greatest health care system in the world that provides EVERYONE the best health care in the world) into a grotesque medical experiment gone horribly wrong. Americans have tried to do the right thing. It's shameful just how much every taxpaying American pays to make sure that a good number of other Americans have the best healthcare, but not every tax-paying American can afford our grossly over-inflated health care costs.

Health re-distribution is even more reprehensible than wealth distribution. Money is meant to circulate, i.e., be re-distributed... health is not. We can do better.