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Politics : A US National Health Care System?
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To: dybdahl who wrote (18266)7/8/2010 4:21:22 PM
From: i-node  Read Replies (4) of 42652
 
>> High costs. For instance, ICU care is many times more expensive than equally performing ICUs in other countries, which are better staffed and have similar wage levels.

If I were going to be in an ICU, I'd rather it be in the US than anywhere in the world as far as quality of care.

As to cost, I wonder whether you mean "real" cost or the billed cost? These are hugely different.

As an example, I recently had a procedure at a local hospital for which my insurance was billed about $7,000. In the end, my insurance paid about $800 and I paid about $400 -- $1,200 total. I honestly could not see how the hospital could have broken even on the procedure, let alone, made any money.

The basic problem is that providers lose so much money on government paid care that they end up jacking up bills the only place they can -- in self-paying patient care (most hospitals have contracts with insurances that limit their reimbursements).

We would not have this mess if we hadn't allowed the government to get involved in health care back in the 60s. The best solution to our current crisis would be to have the government get out of health care altogether and hire the insurance companies to run these programs, IMO.

Biggest problem facing American health care? Without a doubt it is the health care financing crisis created by government involvement. Medicare is running an unfunded liability of some $60 Trillion (more if you could Part D) and that will ultimately break the country.

We will rapid descend from having the best health care in the world to having some of the worst.
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