Dems agree to drop full-blown public option

[Maximus]

And of course you can always get a second opinion or switch doctors if you like. That's probably the one thing that aggravates me most about the system down here. Your insurance frequently dictates which doctor you can go to and still receive benefits. And god forbid you switch jobs.

[Caliga]

That's probably the one thing that aggravates me most about the system down here. Your insurance frequently dictates which doctor you can go to and still receive benefits. And god forbid you switch jobs.

Agree, this is one of the worst (if not *the* worst) problems.

[Admiral Yi]

How about medical school educations?  How much of that is typically born privately in your country?

[Barrister]

How about medical school educations?  How much of that is typically born privately in your country?

Like all other post-secondary education, the university is an arms-length non-profit that receives mostof it's funding from the government.  Students pay, I dunno, 10-20% of the cost of their education?

[Admiral Yi]

Like all other post-secondary education, the university is an arms-length non-profit that receives mostof it's funding from the government.  Students pay, I dunno, 10-20% of the cost of their education?

Do you know if that cost gets included in the total health care spending numbers that get thrown around?

[grumbler]

Do you know if that cost gets included in the total health care spending numbers that get thrown around?

I would imagine that it would be very hard to tell.  It is like asking if the estimates of total volume of gold in the world includes the gold contained in human blood.

[Fate]

How about medical school educations?  How much of that is typically born privately in your country?

I don't know why, but Medicare/Medicaid pay the lion's share of resident (5th year+) salaries. I guess they're taking advantage of cheap(er) labor.

[Barrister]

Like all other post-secondary education, the university is an arms-length non-profit that receives mostof it's funding from the government.  Students pay, I dunno, 10-20% of the cost of their education?

Do you know if that cost gets included in the total health care spending numbers that get thrown around?

Probably not.  At least the straight education part.  Residency probably is however.

[Jacob]

That seems like a pity.

Anything that leaves the insurance industry thinking "it won" seems like it will fail to achieve too much.  I mean, isn't a huge part of the increased cost due to the fact that the American health system has to support HMO and insurance administration, staffing and profits on top of the actual expenses of running the system?

[Admiral Yi]

That seems like a pity.

Anything that leaves the insurance industry thinking "it won" seems like it will fail to achieve too much.  I mean, isn't a huge part of the increased cost due to the fact that the American health system has to support HMO and insurance administration, staffing and profits on top of the actual expenses of running the system?

I think 12% overhead vs. 3% for Medicare.

[Caliga]

Anything that leaves the insurance industry thinking "it won" seems like it will fail to achieve too much.  I mean, isn't a huge part of the increased cost due to the fact that the American health system has to support HMO and insurance administration, staffing and profits on top of the actual expenses of running the system?

Given the extreme degree of public interest in their business now, I don't think any outcome will leave the insurance industry thinking that.  This is one industry where you definitely want people "on the street" to not be thinking about you and what you do in order to make money.

[Admiral Yi]

I don't know why, but Medicare/Medicaid pay the lion's share of resident (5th year+) salaries. I guess they're taking advantage of cheap(er) labor.

Very interesting, didn't know that.

[DGuller]

That seems like a pity.

Anything that leaves the insurance industry thinking "it won" seems like it will fail to achieve too much.  I mean, isn't a huge part of the increased cost due to the fact that the American health system has to support HMO and insurance administration, staffing and profits on top of the actual expenses of running the system?

No, it's not a huge part.  There are more significant reasons for the disparity.

[DGuller]

I think 12% overhead vs. 3% for Medicare.

To be devil's advocate, this comparison is misleading for two reasons.  One is that Medicare claims are much larger in size, due to older population being insured.  That shrinks the fixed costs as a percentage down.  Another reason is that it is probably true that Medicare is more tolerant of fraud or over-utilization than private insurers, for pretty obvious reasons.  Sniffing out the fraud takes resources and goes into the expense column (although if loss adjustment expenses are not included in that 12% figure, then it's not a valid point).

[Admiral Yi]

DGuller, question for you.  How costly is actuarial work?  Would it contribute significantly to the difference in overhead?

Reason I ask is Medicare doesn't do any.