Medical Cost

[not2old]

I



It’s just not available in Canada in the system and the option to pay out of pocket in full or the difference is not possible…

I

You can always get that medical treatment in another country. My son went to California for a procedure that was going to take too long here. He could have waited but didn't want to. It was not a life threatening problem.

 

[thclimer]

You can always get that medical treatment in another country. My son went to California for a procedure that was going to take too long here. He could have waited but didn't want to. It was not a life threatening problem.

Did he have to pay for the treatment in CA out of his own pocket?

 

[not2old]

Did he have to pay for the treatment in CA out of his own pocket?

Yes, it was twelve to fifteen thousand Canadian.

 

[Torvy]

The biggest difference in actual cost in the US is our problem with tort.

Most countries have more limits on payouts and restrict how attorneys get paid.

This applies to the actual care and the pharmaceuticals that often go hand-in-hand. It's not just the malpractice insurance. It also means we tend toward an over-abundance of tests and specialist referrals. Your GP doesn't want (or is restricted from by his insurance) to handle anything risky.

This, I believe, is the root cause of high costs of health care.

Another big factor is the artificial limits on training doctors that the AMA has managed. Least supply leads to higher prices.

 

[kenmbz]

I can't really find answers on how much of the cost in the US is due to the insurance company middlemen. Seems everything just comes up and says it's a tiny cost.
But we know the insurance companies spend billions on "expenses" like hiring entry people to keep profits lower while allowing more rate hikes.
So profits don't look huge, only in the billions, if you look at the cost for the payees to keep the company running , I bet it's a significant part of US healthcare costs.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

I can't really find answers on how much of the cost in the US is due to the insurance company middlemen. Seems everything just comes up and says it's a tiny cost.

When I go to my family doctor I can see several people behind the counter that do nothing but deal with insurance paperwork and there are probably other contract employees working from home or another office doing the same. I'd like to know what the ratio is of people who are directly involved in patient care (doctors & nurses) to people doing non-value added work. That's got to be a huge overhead cost in running a doctor's office.

 

[ponytug]

I can't really find answers on how much of the cost in the US is due to the insurance company middlemen. Seems everything just comes up and says it's a tiny cost.
But we know the insurance companies spend billions on "expenses" like hiring entry people to keep profits lower while allowing more rate hikes.
So profits don't look huge, only in the billions, if you look at the cost for the payees to keep the company running , I bet it's a significant part of US healthcare costs.

If you are curious where healthcare money goes here are two charts that breakdown the cost two different ways. (From the Economist, this week) The parts of the system making money are not the publicly vilified groups.

All the best,

Peter

 

[kenmbz]

If you are curious where healthcare money goes here are two charts that breakdown the cost two different ways. (From the Economist, this week) The parts of the system making money are not the publicly vilified groups.

View attachment 4184860

View attachment 4184861

All the best,

Peter

Notice how insurance companies are not listed, though they are all multi-billion dollar companies.
They hide the "profits" in hiring more people and only show in these charts as pass through.
Well the billions they have to make to stay afloat have to come from somewhere.

I guess their lobby and PACs do a great job.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

Those graphs aren't really helpful since they don't list health insurance companies, legal services, malpractice insurers, or any of the non-value added waste.

 

[gsganzer]

There's no simple fix to our healthcare costs in the US. An unhealthy population (overweight and poor lifestyles), tort issues, excessive testing and procedures, drug prices, shortage of doctors, for-profit versus service model, administrative costs and the list goes on.

Because of the patchwork of medical providers and health insurance companies, administrative costs alone account for 25% of our healthcare costs.