Private health insurance coverage in the United States pretty much meets your description of socialism.
Many if not most insurance companies ration care, requiring the hip to be debilitating to a certain degree before they'll authorize the replacement. The wait for hip replacement in America can extend from to 4 to 6 years as other regimens like pain medication injections are trialed first. Not that they work, it's just a way to postpone costs. And you never know, if you make the American wait long enough they might die first, and that would be a substantial savings.
If you are retired or disabled and eligible for Medicare, approval for a hip replacement is much quicker because the Federal Medicare program is less socialist than private health insurance programs.
In Australia, the criteria for a hip replacement is considerably lower and involves no waiting time beyond a few days scheduling time because government Medicare in Australia is not socialist. - healthdirect.gov.au
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Fortunately there is an alternative for those trapped in America's socialist private insurance or socialist employer health insurance system - Cash payments out of pocket.
Patients without health insurance, a total hip replacement usually will cost between $31,839 and $44,816, with an average cost of $39,299, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. - health.costhelper.com
So in a low-cost socialist state like North Carolina, replacing both hips will run you about $78,000 out of pocket. Or you could fly to a free-market economy like China, Thailand, Mexico or the Philippines where market competition may have driven prices lower.
Due to the cost involved, most hip replacements in China are performed on foreign 'health tourists' or senior party officials. - health-tourism.com - Knee surgery is considered elective when compared with hip replacement, so knee replacement surgery in China is extremely limited. asiabiotech.com
In Hong Kong there is a far greater reliance on quacks offering "stem cell hip repair" involving drilling into a patient's healthy tooth and putting a filling in its place. The drilled bits from the tooth are injected into the hip supposedly providing fresh dental stem cells which allegedly repair the hip. This procedure is typically accompanied by special "Stem Cell Growth Tonics" which contain various opiates. |
