US health care question

[Monoriu]

I don't understand the US health care system.  I often read in the newspapre reports about people being "uninsured".  And they think it is a big problem. 

Well, I am uninsured too.  But in Hong Kong, if I am sick and uninsured, I just pay for whatever health care service that I use.  A consultation plus medication for most minor problems at a private, for profit hospital cost, on average, about US$40-70.  Do Americans need to pay huge sums for minor problems if they are uninsured?

[Grey Fox]

I don't understand it either but Yes.

You try paying 60 000$ for Chimo.

[Barrister]

As GF points out the problem isn't paying for minor problems - its paying for medium to major problems.  You get the odd story of someone being diagnosed with cancer and losing their house, for example.

[DontSayBanana]

Medical bills bills are sky-high, and with no form of institutionalized assistance, there's nothing to defray those costs. A simple blood test will set you back somewhere around $300-$500 in lab fees. I'll cough up some numbers for perspective:

I've got severe allergies and minor asthma. With no prescription plan, I couldn't afford a regular prescription that can come out to $5 a pill or more. When I have an attack, it's about $100 for the doctor's visit, $300-500 to get a blood test to double-check my dosages, an inhaler can set me back about $200, and since I can only do the legwork so infrequently, last time it was accompanied by a sinus infection that incurred another $200 worth of prescriptions. All told, I ended up shelling out about $1,000 dollars just to deal with having a hard time breathing between coughing and sneezing fits. Anything that requires even simply outpatient hospital services is insane.

I would also point out, however, that while we don't have any national programs to deal with coverage, most hospitals have something like a "charity care" program where the hospital would review your financials and write off some or all of the expenses you were billed for if you can show financial hardship.

Another thing to realize about US healthcare is that since the insurance as well as healthcare providers are entirely private sector, their overriding goal is to turn a profit; this leads to a lot of competition on prices and payouts where healthcare costs in the US probably aren't comparable to those of other countries with mandated insurance plans or mandated healthcare plans like the UK.

[Berkut]

The US gets the worst of both worlds now - insanely high prices so that health care providers can bill at a high rate to insurance companies, since they know they won't get but a fraction anyway, but no actual consumer market to foster price competition.

[DGuller]

I don't understand the US health care system.  I often read in the newspapre reports about people being "uninsured".  And they think it is a big problem. 

Well, I am uninsured too.  But in Hong Kong, if I am sick and uninsured, I just pay for whatever health care service that I use.  A consultation plus medication for most minor problems at a private, for profit hospital cost, on average, about US$40-70.  Do Americans need to pay huge sums for minor problems if they are uninsured?

The problem is that the cost is extremely high, and grossly inflated.  If there ever was a case for price gouging laws, health care would be it.

[Admiral Yi]

I've recently paid:

$55 for a GP visit.

$90 for an opthomologist visit.

$250 for a foot specialist visit. 

[Jaron]

I've recently paid:

$55 for a GP visit.

$90 for an opthomologist visit.

$250 for a foot specialist visit. 

You could have gone to Martinus for free.

[Barrister]

You could have gone to Martinus for free.

Heh.

[jimmy olsen]

I've recently paid:

$55 for a GP visit.

$90 for an opthomologist visit.

$250 for a foot specialist visit. 

You could have gone to Martinus for free.

[jimmy olsen]

Here's an eye opening statistic.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31103572/

Medical bills tied to 60 percent of bankruptcies

Most families had health insurance, but still overwhelmed by health debt

WASHINGTON - Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

"Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92 percent of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000, or 10 percent of pretax family income," the researchers wrote.

"Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations."

The researchers, whose work was paid for by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the share of bankruptcies that could be blamed on medical problems rose by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007.

...

"Among common diagnoses, nonstroke neurologic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis were associated with the highest out-of-pocket expenditures (mean $34,167), followed by diabetes ($26,971), injuries ($25,096), stroke ($23,380), mental illnesses ($23,178), and heart disease ($21,955)," the researchers wrote.

Copyright 2009 Reuters.

[Caliga]

Our healthcare system is a complete disaster and, after spending quite a bit of time mulling it over, I'm now in favor of socialized medicine... as difficult as it is for me to say so, given my libertarian leanings.

[Ed Anger]

Our healthcare system is a complete disaster and, after spending quite a bit of time mulling it over, I'm now in favor of socialized medicine... as difficult as it is for me to say so, given my libertarian leanings.

You'll make Ron Paul cry.

[Caliga]

You'll make Ron Paul cry.

Sometimes you have to be pragmatic. 

[Ed Anger]

You'll make Ron Paul cry.

Sometimes you have to be pragmatic. 

I'll be pragmatic with you. I'll support socialized medicine, as long as those with means can go above and beyond.

I  private rooms.