[Taurean Reign]

@SolarCross

Bad things going to happen in Europe.

[SolarCross]

@SolarCross

Bad things going to happen in Europe.

"Bad things" happen everywhere all the time. You might want to be more specific.

[Rancid]

I would hate to see the price of me seeing a doctor in USA....

For minor minor pediatric visits with my kids. It's usually a minimum of $300 for the visit, and then $10-$20 for whatever med they prescribe. I can certainly afford this, but $300 is a shit ton of many for poor folks, or even a family that earns the US median income of 55k or so a year.

[Godstud]

$300 is fucking outrageous!!!

Wake up, Americans! You're being robbed!!!

[Rancid]

Wake up, Americans! You're being robbed!!!

I think most of us know we're getting robbed.

Maybe we just like to be fucked in the ass.

Anyway, this is why we tend to wait a little before going to the Dr, to see if whatever their aliment is goes away. The costs are just fucking nutz.

[Wellsy]

I eonder if the obamacare at least helped make healthcare a focal point in the US which has been quite explosive with how pissed off a lot of americans are. I remember senators and such being scared if their constituents who wanted to talk to them about the problem of healthcare and how it was financially ruining families. But once one realizes there is a problem it automatically goes to the next problem of what is to be done and how does one get it inplemented. Generally the talk is of universal healthcare but yet to see a politically mobilized group around the issue going further than discontent but with an ideal.

[BigSteve]

Actimmune, a drug that treats malignant osteoporosis and sells for less than $350 for a one-month supply in Britain, costs $26,000 for a one-month supply in the United States.

Mr. Trump has not kept his campaign promise to “negotiate like crazy” with drug makers to lower the cost of their products. I guess Johnnie One Note is too busy blathering endlessly about a wall.

What an obedient little lib you are.

Don't bitch at all about the companies charging outrageous amounts. No, God no... don't do that...

[Politics_Observer]

@Rancid

I think most of us know we're getting robbed.

Maybe we just like to be fucked in the ass.

Anyway, this is why we tend to wait a little before going to the Dr, to see if whatever their aliment is goes away. The costs are just fucking nutz.

That's right! You hit the nail on the head! Before Obamacare came into effect, shortly after I returned home from the war, my wife had a medical emergency and her insurance through her work was insufficient. We had to pay close to $7,000 for her ONE emergency room visit. We didn't qualify for aid because we made too much money and I didn't have medical insurance to cover my wife. Plus the Veterans Administration only covered my healthcare given my status as a veteran but not my wife's healthcare. We are not rich at all and make much less than $50,000 a year yet we did not qualify for aid because we made too much money so we ended up paying ever last bit of that over $7,000 bill for just ONE emergency room visit. It was an astounding cost. We paid every last bit of it though out of our pocket. Healthcare is outrageous in the US. Other countries do a much better job at healthcare than we do. I don't know why we don't learn from other countries. I think a combination of private insurance and public option is a good idea.

[jimjam]

I think most of us know we're getting robbed. Maybe we just like to be fucked in the ass.

The American medical system is generally designed to maximize cash flow, health of Americans is secondary. An amazingly complex bureaucratic system is in place with a "billing" fired off at every single twist and turn. My wife had a back procedure done in Florida two months ago. She currently has extreme pain up here on the Maine coast. To see a "pain specialist" she must first search out a new "primary care doctor", wait a couple of weeks for an appointment to see her primary care doctor who will arrive at the brilliant conclusion that she should see a pain specialist or a back specialist or both or something else. Meanwhile the primary care doctor gets to submit a billing for something like $662.54 to cover a 15 minute discussion.

[Rancid]

The American medical system is generally designed to maximize cash flow, health of Americans is secondary. An amazingly complex bureaucratic system is in place with a "billing" fired off at every single twist and turn. My wife had a back procedure done in Florida two months ago. She currently has extreme pain up here on the Maine coast. To see a "pain specialist" she must first search out a new "primary care doctor", wait a couple of weeks for an appointment to see her primary care doctor who will arrive at the brilliant conclusion that she should see a pain specialist or a back specialist or both or something else. Meanwhile the primary care doctor gets to submit a billing for something like $662.54 to cover a 15 minute discussion.

I need to in on this business. Not health care, but just the billing industry around health care.

It's a fucking GOLD MINE.

[Suntzu]

The American healthcare cartel is fucked. American's are paying around 17% of GDP. Most other First World countries are paying around half that much.

[emilynghiem]

I think the answer is universal health care. Aside from that, I wonder if drug prices globally would raise if the US socialized healthcare. Because we pay so much for medication in the US, it allows the drug companies to charge less, and even give away the drugs in other countries.

Dear @jimjam and @Rancid
Good news is medical care cooperatives like PPC have found ways to
negotiate "medicare pricing" for everyone without waiting or depending on govt or legislation.
By forming nonprofit chapters of 1500 members, that's enough to predict and reduce costs
by paying providers directly on contract.
SEE www.patientphysiciancooperatives.com
Because PPC incorporated as a nonprofit while also obtaining licensing and other
legally required approval to negotiate with insurance, medical and drug providers,
the nonprofit team also found best ways to obtain access to maximum discounts on prescriptions,
lowest rates on insurance, and lowest or no deductibles or copays.
So it's bringing together the best options from all available sources including govt programs, Medicare and Medicare Advantage, federally funded clinics, and free market insurance and providers. Members are free to work with whatever options cost less and offer better benefits, without conflict. No further legislation needed

[BigSteve]

Actimmune, a drug that treats malignant osteoporosis and sells for less than $350 for a one-month supply in Britain, costs $26,000 for a one-month supply in the United States.

How much is considered a "one month supply"?

Because I'm finding the medication for a lot less than$26K...

[jimjam]

Dear @jimjam and @Rancid
Good news is medical care cooperatives like PPC have found ways to
negotiate "medicare pricing" for everyone without waiting or depending on govt or legislation.
By forming nonprofit chapters of 1500 members, that's enough to predict and reduce costs
by paying providers directly on contract.
SEE http://www.patientphysiciancooperatives.com
Because PPC incorporated as a nonprofit while also obtaining licensing and other
legally required approval to negotiate with insurance, medical and drug providers,
the nonprofit team also found best ways to obtain access to maximum discounts on prescriptions,
lowest rates on insurance, and lowest or no deductibles or copays.
So it's bringing together the best options from all available sources including govt programs, Medicare and Medicare Advantage, federally funded clinics, and free market insurance and providers. Members are free to work with whatever options cost less and offer better benefits, without conflict. No further legislation needed

I admit that I am part of the problem. I am old and, therefore, on Medicare and have the bad attitude that "Medicare will pay for it".

As an aside ….. thank God the Democrats gave us Medicare in 1966. It is a 100% certainty that medical help for the elderly would not become law 53 years later, today, in the current climate under the Republicans where out of one side of their mouth a multi trillion tax cut for billionaires is granted while, out of the other side of their mouth, we can hear mutterings at how Social Security and Medicare are "unsustainable".

[Puffer Fish]

From what I've seen, I believe a lot of the medical procedures Americans undergo are unnecessary, or not absolutely necessary. But from what the patient is told, they think they have to have it.

Part of this is doctors' training with the mindset that if there's a problem, they should use their specific trained skillset to try to solve it, and part of this is subtle unethical corruption that creeps in as the doctor's decision becomes influenced, in small part, by being able to bring in some more revenue. After all, if the doctor could make some money and he believes it could bring some medical benefit to the patient, why not do it?

A problem could have different medical solutions, and sometimes two different doctors trained in different areas of focus would approach the problem from different ways, using the type of treatment they are personally the most familiar with. Like the saying goes: if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Other times it can make more medical and financial sense not to treat a problem. But doctors might do it because they're concerned about legal liability. In the off chance they were wrong, they could get sued. So it's more financially prudent for them to prescribe an expensive course of treatment.

I would say the majority of orthopedic surgery that goes on in the US is not really absolutely necessary.

[Godstud]

The tests doctors do might very well seem like a waste of time to someone who does not have the education of a doctor. The tests are to narrow down what could be wrong with you, and any test is never a waste of time.

If such was the case, you should be able to self-medicate and everything else simply by diagnosing yourself on the internet. Such would clearly be lunacy, of course.

The claims of "subtle unethical corruption" are simply ridiculous, and have no basis in reality.

What do you think of this @Drlee ?

I would say the majority of orthopedic surgery that goes on in the US is not really absolutely necessary.

Please provide evidence for this claim.