Medical costs

[ultrarunner]

Could be I work with Docs that are highly sought after as in the case of the Canadian...

It is comforting when you have a Surgeon that other Docs use for themselves and their families....

Elective or scheduled surgery should provide ample time for due diligence because a medical degree doesn't equate experience or outcome...

Also avoiding a lot of procedures on geriatric patients could also affect the metric...

 

[aczlan]

Also avoiding a lot of procedures on geriatric patients could also affect the metric...

w
Wait a minute, you mean to say that doing operations that they wouldn't do elsewhere and working with those who don't take care of their basic medical needs until it's life threatening could mess up the metrics for a healthcare system?

Aaron Z

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Thousand bucks each?

Sadly, you are not paying for just your visit, you also have to pay for everyone else that does not pay. By law, hospitals have to provide service to everyone, and people that are not citizens here legally, and illegally, go to the emergency and get free care. It's very common for people to plan their vacation to the US around a medical issue. They get here, they go to the hospital, they get treatment, and then they go back home to their country. A good friend is a Chief Financial Officer for a chain of clinics in the SF Bay area and one of her biggest challenges is budgeting for those people.

The other massive cost to hospitals is treating people addicted to pain killers. They spray their legs with oven cleaner, or cause some other injury to themselves, and go in to the emergency to get treatment. Most of the time it's so bad that they have to spend the night. They never pay because they are unemployed and addicted to drugs.

You are blaming the wrong people. It's the minimum wage deadbeats who use the ER and can't pay. Obamacare was going to make everyone have health insurance, but I guess that's dead now, so we're back to soaking the middle class for monstrous medical bills.

 

[Deere Dude]

Not exactly... and this is from this week...

One of my patients is Canadian and has Canadian insurance... he needed orthopedic surgery and was told he yes he does and was given a 2 year wait for the procedure in Canada...

He was quite concerned and said no way was he putting this surgery off for two years!

So what does he do.

He contacts one of the finest Ortho Surgeons in SF Bay Area... flies down for an exam on his own dime... Doc confirms everything and says he has a busy schedule but and can do the surgery week after next...

So the Canadian flies home and returns two weeks for surgery with his wife... they stay in a hotel, rent a car and pay cash for the surgery...

One would have to ask why would anyone go to all the trouble if the identical procedure would be covered in Canada????

I have several friends that are Doctors in Austria and Germany... they say America is so much more accommodating to elderly... as a Doctor she cannot justify hip or knee reconstruction for elderly... but for productive working adults, children and babies the European system shines.... just not for those retired... it is affect allocated.

My friend that had back surgery at 97 would have had zero chance under socialized medicine straight from the Doctors I know in those countries.

All a Canadian who is in a rush do a procedure is come across the border to the US and go to an emergency room, claim he is totally broke and fly back home thereby having quick free health care. Better if he was a Mexican Canadian then nobody would suspect a thing.

Actually I have a Canadian acquaintance who I met while snowbirding in southern Florida. He was in his 80s I suspect and was in the keys when he had to have an emergency $25000 operation on something they found as he went to the ER. They patched him up and he told them he didn’t have any money. Somehow they managed to get him on a $100 a month plan but I am not sure of the particulars. Then while lounging around in the hot tub he was bragging about Canadian health care.

 

[Deere Dude]

Not exactly... and this is from this week...

One of my patients is Canadian and has Canadian insurance... he needed orthopedic surgery and was told he yes he does and was given a 2 year wait for the procedure in Canada...

He was quite concerned and said no way was he putting this surgery off for two years!

So what does he do.

He contacts one of the finest Ortho Surgeons in SF Bay Area... flies down for an exam on his own dime... Doc confirms everything and says he has a busy schedule but and can do the surgery week after next...

So the Canadian flies home and returns two weeks for surgery with his wife... they stay in a hotel, rent a car and pay cash for the surgery...

One would have to ask why would anyone go to all the trouble if the identical procedure would be covered in Canada????

I have several friends that are Doctors in Austria and Germany... they say America is so much more accommodating to elderly... as a Doctor she cannot justify hip or knee reconstruction for elderly... but for productive working adults, children and babies the European system shines.... just not for those retired... it is affect allocated.

My friend that had back surgery at 97 would have had zero chance under socialized medicine straight from the Doctors I know in those countries.

All a Canadian who is in a rush do a procedure is come across the border to the US and go to an emergency room, claim he is totally broke and fly back home thereby having quick free health care. Better if he was a Mexican Canadian then nobody would suspect a thing.

Actually I have a Canadian acquaintance who I met while snowbirding in southern Florida. He was in his 80s I suspect and was in the keys when he had to have an emergency $25000 operation on something they found as he went to the ER. They patched him up and he told them he didn稚 have any money. Somehow they managed to get him on a $100 a month plan but I am not sure of the particulars. Then while lounging around in the hot tub he was bragging about Canadian health care.

 

[ultrarunner]

Medical is just about the only place many never ask what something costs and then are surprised when the bill comes.

I think medical pricing is terrible... there are so many variables... cash pay, in network, out of network, negotiated, hardship, charity, medicare, workers comp. etc... coders and billers are very much in demand because it has become a specialty.

For scheduled and elective surgery a price quote is always available but this too is not foolproof due to complications or last minute schedule changes... like being scheduled for a in-network anesthesiologist and then having an out of network anesthesiologist filling in.

I think if people spent at least as much time researching procedure costs as they do on a cell plan we would all be better off...

Best rate for those that pay is advanced negotiated cash price paid at the time of service...

If you are one not concerned with cost it means either someone else is paying or you know you are judgement proof.

Any discussion about medical cost would not be complete without discussing mandated governmental costs... simple as requiring complete IT upgrades, additional personnel to modern fully operational and in use hospitals not meeting the latest seismic standards...

By far in my region the most charity care provided was by the Catholic Sisters... it was there mission and they ran a tight ship... unfortunately for California the nuns have left because they were at odds with mandated "Family Planning" services...

It was until they left that the full extent of what they provided was truly appreciated... they got nowhere in their request for special consideration... and so it goes.

 

[300UGUY]

All a Canadian who is in a rush do a procedure is come across the border to the US and go to an emergency room, claim he is totally broke and fly back home thereby having quick free health care. Better if he was a Mexican Canadian then nobody would suspect a thing.

Actually I have a Canadian acquaintance who I met while snowbirding in southern Florida. He was in his 80s I suspect and was in the keys when he had to have an emergency $25000 operation on something they found as he went to the ER. They patched him up and he told them he didn稚 have any money. Somehow they managed to get him on a $100 a month plan but I am not sure of the particulars. Then while lounging around in the hot tub he was bragging about Canadian health care.

I have met some Canuck snowbirds in Florida, and a lot of them purchase supplements that help pay us medical bills. I believe that their health care system will pay for some things here.

 

[Wagtail]

Please don't rub it in.

Crikey, then you really don't want to hear about the Australian system... there's the socialised 'public' system (somewhat like Canada/UK) PLUS the 'Private Health Insurance' system, which for me is A$180 per month. That allows me to 'jump the queue' for elective surgery in a private hospital. Oh, and dental is included too.

If I need emergency care I'm then transferred to a private hospital (no waiting for 'bed availability'), AND the entire country has a "Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme" where a majority of prescription drugs cost you a few dollars... I know that they don't have that in Canada.

The US medical system frankly scares the ever-loving crap out of me. So much so that when I do travel to Canada to visit family, and invariably have to wait in either Hawaii or LA, I always buy medical insurance for the US... just in case. It's cheap versus financial ruin.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I just had a right hip replaced. Great orthopedic surgeon. Fully outpatient at a surgery center. Total cost billed was a tick over 30K. If hospital stay was required it would have been over 80K. My out of pocket was in the 3K range. This is one option for surgeries around here if you qualify.

I personally don't see a solution to the ER issue. Those other centers are not open 24/7. Looks like to me an opportunity for some group to offer 24/7 service in lieu of the ER.

 

[LD1]

Why does having a doctor spend 15 mins putting Staples in at a "er" cost 4 times more than a doctor putting in Staples at a clinic or urgent care?

Both have to pay doctor. Both have to pay to keep the lights on. Both have to occupy a room for the 15 min. Both have the same material cost. What s the difference? Other than greed just because they can?