Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

Discussion in 'Politics' started by ElectricFetus, Feb 22, 2013.

  1. milkweed Valued Senior Member

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    The article explains exactly whats wrong with medicine and that is medical billing.

    Over the past two years I have been able to see the cost to someone insured and visiting an average hospital vs someone insured going to Mayo clinic. The difference in pricing was eye opening. I wish I could remember which politician pointed to Mayo's billing as a way to reduce health care costs, but after seeing what I did, they are correct. The Mayo final bill was 35% of the other hospitals billing.
     
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  3. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/05/mayo_health_care_cost_control
     
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  5. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Interesting so if we gave doctors fixed salaries, or better yet ones based on outcome, that would help reduced all the testing for money?
     
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  7. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    As usual, a completely stupid, mindless post.
     
  8. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not sure that applies everywhere. Here, our EMTs, their truck and equipment is provided by the county and paid for out of the taxes that go to provide firefighter services. So perhaps we have a unique situation. (Again, I checked all that out when we moved here.)
     
  9. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    Physicians in the US have traditionally worn two hats, the physician hat and the business owner hat. Sometimes those two hats are in conflict. And I think it is a bit much to expect physicians to be management professionals as well as physicians. A good physician may not be a good business person or manager. For all their education they receive little education in management and probably have little interests in the subject. Our health care problem is much larger than just physicians.

    I don’t think there is a simple single solution. The healthcare industry needs to incorporate some of the efficiency and quality processes that have been used in private industry for decades (e.g. best practices). It is the pharmaceutical industry that spends huge sums on marketing rather than drug research and spends billions protecting patents and restricting competition and preventing competitive pricing. It is the artificial barriers to entry into the healthcare professions and the over education of healthcare professionals (e.g. physicians). It is a lot of things.

    When other healthcare systems can provide more health care at less than half our cost and get better outcomes, I think we have a lot to learn from those healthcare systems.
     
  10. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Now that I can agree with.

    And I still say THE single biggest mistake the Obama administration/congress made when they put together the health care "reform" act is that the did NOT spend considerable time, effort and cash on studying IN DEPTH all those other working systems. Only fools (like *they* are!) try to reinvent the wheel without first gathering information that is readily available.
     
  11. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    and as usual when you get caught making stupid comments you flame. Everyone CANT ensure they go to a prefered hospital, hospitals don't have all the equiptment to deal with EVERYTHING. Set things go to set hospitals and its not just "Whats the closest trauma center", for example in SA pregant trauma MUST go to flinders, no other choice because they are the only hospital with both neonatal care AND adult trauma care. Burns and spinals go to the RAH because thats the hospital which has the teams to handle those etc

    and about 40% of the patients I delt with while I was on the ambulance were unable to make that choice either because they were detained, because they were distressed, because they fell into specific catigories OR BECAUSE THEY WERE ALTERED CONCIOUSNESS
     
  12. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    I would not say they are re-inventing the wheel as many other developed countries have similar healthcare programs, rather they created limited healthcare reform within the acceptable limits of American ultra-capitalistic political ideology (Aka no government healthcare, unlike all the other countries despite the fact their citizens pay far less for the same amount of care). The best solution as other countries have shown is to regulate the healthcare, insurance and pharmaceutical industries more, not less. Only by regulating them can the focus be placed on optimizing service and price verse what there present focus is on: profit.
     
  13. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    With Republicans on the warpath intent on making Obama a one term president, resisting anything and everything Obama did and given the Democratic penchant to move towards higher states of disorder, I think Obamacare was the best anyone could have reasonably expected. I think the best way to look at Obamacare is that it is a work in process. It is certainly better than doing nothing. If we are ever to fix our deficit and debt problems, we need to fix our healthcare system ASAP.
     
  14. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    The reason I called it STUPID and MINDLESS is that *anyone* knows you have no control when you're unconscious. So it was STILL a *very* stupid and mindless post - just what we've come to expect from you.
     
  15. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    That didn't address my point in the least - not even *close*.
     
  16. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    Just like your stupid premis that people can control what hospital they end up in

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    Basically the issue isn't planning like you stupidly claim, it's the stupid way your system is set up, rather than a universal system which is aimed at patient care you have a system aimed at profits, well done you must be so proud
     
  17. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Asguard, when will you EVER stop commenting on how things work in a country you know so little about!?!?!?!? What I said most certainly applies to the region where I live even if not the whole of the U.S. You continue to make yourself look like a very, very foolish individual - as you actually that dense??
     
  18. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    Oh I know your point; though I am not sure you got mine. I just don’t think given the atmosphere and circumstances in Washington, your wants were not practicable. So we have to make do with what is achievable and that was Obamacare.
     
  19. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    Ah yes, the US is populated by some other species, I mean what is the case in EVERY other developed nation (and quite a few developing) but isn't in the US couldn't possibly be the issue. You must all be some alien species which is completly different from humanity. Seriously grow up, you are no different from every other human, look at the Americans going to Canada and Mexico to use there health care because yours is so piss poor. How about insted of whinging that other people have opinions you might look at Everyother country and ask "what can you guys teach us?" "Why is your system so much better than ours?" "Why do you constantly rank better on infant mortality, quality of life, life expectancy and all the other health indicators"

    You do realise as part of my health degree I studied your system, comparing it to both ours and the English system
     
  20. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Actually medicare and insurance companies hold the medical cost down. When I was uninsured, an office visit which took maybe 15 minutes of the doctors time cost me $110.00 dollars. When I was covered by medicare that same office visit was only $78.00. Also, I know that most doctors and hospitals won't do any test that the insurance companies and medicare won't pay for. They follow very strict protocols when it comes to authorizing any testing. I'm sure if you want extra testing, you can offer to pay for it yourself, otherwise you will have to follow the prescribed protocols.
     
  21. asifsohaib Registered Member

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    I am sure there is competition between hospitals. But they don’t compete on price or quality. They compete in medical clinic marketing and public relations and in lobbying government officials. Because that is where the money is and increasingly hospitals and clinics are being bought out by large healthcare chains.

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    Last edited: Jun 30, 2013
  22. arauca Banned Banned

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    My Indian doctor takes $ 155.00 from medicare , he is a friendly guy but stick in to medicare.
     
  23. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Unscrupulous doctors can take advantage of the system. But they actually have to lie about the procedures they are doing. Some might lie to help needy patients, but I heard of whole medical groups that specialize in cheating medicare. I think when caught those doctors should be punished in a way that sends a strong message to other cheaters of the system.
     

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