Medical Cost

[kenmac]

Probably die or suffer, not many options unfortunately.
Our medical care in Canada is free....only problem is waiting years to get anything done regardless of the ailment, and by free I mean taxed to no end to pay for it. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.....I think.

they just never pay the bill. I know someone that broke his tibia and fibula in both legs from riding a dirt bike with no insurance. They took him to the hospital and instead of just splinting his legs and sending him home to mend, they operated on him and put inns in his bones so they would mend properly. I forget what he said that bill was, but they will probably have to get a judgement against him and garnish his check until the debt is paid !

 

[jyoutz]

Still surprises me to have Canadian patients travel to California for cash pay medical care.

When I ask it always comes down to the same two answers… the wait in queue too long and/or the custom lens implant desired is not available in Canada.

No doubt Canada does well when it comes to bread and butter care for the masses… just like the case in Europe…

I know Austrians that travel and cash pay in Sherman for dental care and Germans that cross the border to Austria for dental care… respective dentist are permitted to offer non citizens options they are forbidden under socialized medicine.

Wealthy people will always choose boutique options because they can.

 

[ericm979]

On a societal level, the US spends twice as much of it's GDP on health care as the next most expensive rich country, yet has worse overall outcomes than any other rich country. We're also the only one where hundreds of thousands of people go bankrupt due to medical bills every year. But the health care sector is very profitable and that's what's really important.

 

[Torvy]

@ultrarunner I saw the same thing living within a few hours of Mayo. Lots of Canadians used to come into Minnesota to get care.

Comparing costs is hard. You would have to quantify the cost of delayed care, the much lower limits on suits for malpractice (as well as a higher standard of proof), etc. What good is cheaper care if you don't get it in time? There is also the risk that the gov will deny a procedure they deem inefficient or too costly based on age, health, etc. Essentially, the things Americans complain about insurance companies become the purview of the province. The difference is that you can find another insurance company.

 

[ericm979]

I ran into this once. I needed orthopedic surgery and was careful to choose a surgeon and hospital that was a provider on my insurance plan. Sure enough, when I got the bill, the anesthesiologist (who I never chose or met) wouldn’t accept my insurance and his bill exceeded the surgeon and hospital combined.

I had exactly the same thing happen. After being told that everyone involved was in the network.

 

[ruffdog]

Wealthy people will always choose boutique options because they can.

The Gilded Age of healthcare is here for the people that can afford it. If the peasants can't afford it, too bad. It is the new normal.

In 1873, Mark Twain co-wrote the novel “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today,” which satirized an era that was marked by inequality, greed, and moral decay but was painted in a veneer of abundance and progress. Industrialists made fortunes in oil, steel, and shipping even as millions suffered poverty and exploitation.

Today, health care is where the money is. New technologies and treatments sustain the impression that patients have never been healthier, but corporations and conglomerates wield immense power at the expense of the people they’re meant to serve. Welcome to the Gilded Age of medicine.

The Gilded Age of Medicine Is Here

 

[ultrarunner]

I

Wealthy people will always choose boutique options because they can.

It’s a lens that is common here for vision correction…

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 remember having a long discussion with two Austrian Doctors and a nurse about the differences in care…

At that time in Austria the chances of someone in their 80’s getting a new hip just was slim.

On the other hand well baby and medical for those in their productive working years is excellent…

The doctors admitted that resources are allocated using cost/benefit.

Doctors there are seldom wealthy but they do enjoy social status… not uncommon for doctors in smaller towns to have secondary jobs…

 

[ultrarunner]

The Gilded Age of healthcare is here for the people that can afford it. If the peasants can't afford it, too bad. It is the new normal.

In 1873, Mark Twain co-wrote the novel “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today,” which satirized an era that was marked by inequality, greed, and moral decay but was painted in a veneer of abundance and progress. Industrialists made fortunes in oil, steel, and shipping even as millions suffered poverty and exploitation. Today, health care is where the money is. New technologies and treatments sustain the impression that patients have never been healthier, but corporations and conglomerates wield immense power at the expense of the people they’re meant to serve. Welcome to the Gilded Age of medicine.

The Gilded Age of Medicine Is Here

Doctors would argue that by encouraging their kids to become investment bankers, form startups and get into real estate investing…

Our well respected chief of staff told his children not to go into medicine… forgo the medical school debt and malpractice premiums.

His two sons are commercial Real Estate Brokers and Doctor Dad says they are leap years ahead of him…

Think about it… a look at health care professionals today will show the huge increase in foreign born practitioners from RN’s to Surgeons…

The days of the sole practitioner here are all but over… simply billing and meeting all the regulatory compliance issues are overwhelming.

Growing up we had a family doctor and his practice consisted of the doc, his nurse and a part time book keeper…

The smallest viable would be a small medical group today with multiple people filling many roles and some probably outsourced overseas.

Many of the new Docs are ok being well paid employees who can schedule time off and not have the burden of running a practice…

 

[jyoutz]

The irony is there are still hospitals shuttering all the time… can’t pay the bills to stay open.

A second is many Docs no longer encourage their kids to go into medicine.

In 35 years I have seen both nurses and doctors increasingly foreign born…

We did not have a single foreign born nurse 35 years ago and half today are from the Philippines… very good nurses I might add.

The days of the sole practitioner are all but gone… it’s not possible to be compliant and run a practice today… it’s a full time job coding and billing, another is compliance, etc…

Plenty of mine fields also…

We had a foreign born nurse with 23 years experience ask a patient through family what language does the patient speak and how long the patient has been in the United States and learned 17 years… the nurse said 17 years is a long time to not learn any English… family filed a formal regulatory complaint.

Another investigated complaint when a nurse asked a non binary person male or female to determine if pregnancy test needed prior to surgery… another complaint that was followed up at the highest level…

It’s not unusual for first generation immigrants to not be fluent in English. My great grandparents immigrated from Slovakia in the late 1800s. My grandparents spoke both English and Slovak, but their parents lived here all their life and were never English fluent. They also lived in a small community in Ohio where most of their neighbors were Slovak immigrants also.

 

[ultrarunner]

It’s not unusual for first generation immigrants to not be fluent in English. My great grandparents immigrated from Slovakia in the late 1800s. My grandparents spoke both English and Slovak, but their parents lived here all their life and were never English fluent. They also lived in a small community in Ohio where most of their neighbors were Slovak immigrants also.

Would you venture your first generation immigrant great grandparents would file a formal complaint with the state against the immigrant RN assisting them completing the patient intake questionnaire for questioning English proficiency being in country 20 years?

There are possible medical conditions such as hearing impairment, etc. that could be factors.

My only point is it’s easy to land in hot water with no ill intent.