Is this common in US?

[Junket]

What makes you certain that with universal healthcare doctors will charge less and therefore the proffesion will become less attractive? Here in Australia we have universal healthcare which goes much further in coverage than the one Obama is trying to put through and the doctors are charging as they would charge normally, they are paid by whatever scheme is in place. There are no shortages of doctors (unless you are talking about rural areas which is more of a global issue).



What about the people who do not have your upbringing? People who were born in poverty and don't have your level of education and don't have the same footing as you to make it in society? What about the people affected by disasters or who lost everything in the global financial crisis? Surely not everyone has exactly the same opportunities as you?

Don't bother arguing. She's from Texas.

My g/f's brother in law, right after complaining about how he was being screwed by the health insurance company, typed, with his broken arm, a letter to his senator to oppose the healthcare reform.

Texans are a bunch of sheep.

[vashti]

I hear (continually) that there is a severe shortage of ALL medical professionals in Australia, and they routinely recruit from other countries. In fact, I know a couple of people in the hospital who are planning to move to Australia because they were recruited there.

[url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/198888.php]Medical Internship Shortage At Crisis Point - Australian Medical Association[/url]

[vashti]

Because wether you like it or not that crack head is a part of society, a negative one. You don't turn sick people away. Much simpler and easier if you ask me. If you treat these crack heads like people maybe one day you''ll see less of them. You make the hospital sound like some castle for the exclusive. I always wondered what happens to a bum who breaks his leg by accident. Does he just live with a broken leg or does he die in the middle of the street because society won't accept him?

If you understood what that crackhead is being treated for, and how expensive it is to treat him/her, combined with the knowledge that they will go right back out and continue getting high, only to be readmitted to the hospital in the not-too-distant future, you might sing another song. I was speaking to someone last night that said it cost them $40,000 to spend the weekend in the hospital when they only needed monitoring because of a heart arrhythmia. It would cost a hell of a lot more to treat a crackhead who has multiple organ failure.

[Petit Papillon]

40 000 $ for a weekend at hospital? Damn , people get a surgery for this here... Why it's so expensive there?

Edit: Not even. I asked my stepfather to be more informed. So in Germany people who work pay the insurance , it depends on how much they earn, which tax class they are etc. Health insurance is 15,5% of gross income. But you never notice it as it's automatically taken together with taxes every month. And when for example, if there is a family and just one of parents works,automatically whole family belongs to the family health insurance. That is kids till 25yo , if they are still living with their parents or children that continue education after being 25 yo are still insuranced (my case ). And then, people who don't work, are insuranced as well, it's then payed by office of labor. Even homeless people can have insurance ,they just need to ask for it ,so if someone is not insuranced in Germany, it's just their own laziness
So when you have insurance in Germany, the only 3 things you have to pay are :
*10 euro/quarter for Dentists and 10euro/quarter for the rest of Doctors - but this just if you do a visit, if you don't need to/you aren't sick, you don't pay it
*10euro/day for hospital stay - max 28 days a year, if it's chronical illness or you need to stay longer,health insurance pay for it
*and of course prescriptions/meds
Of course if you want some extra dental job you pay for it, also you pay extra for treatment that was not recommended by a doctor.

It's more or less the same in other EU countries , for sure everyone has the right to get medical help if needed , even if they are poor, unproductive or is a negative part of society How good it is

[Gribble]

$40,000 is nothing. If you don't have insurance the bills will ruin you for life.

[Petit Papillon]

Lol 40 000$ would ruin my life , I would pay back for the rest of my life lol People take such credit to buy a flat in Poland and pay it for 20 or 30 years

[Gribble]

Jesus. Clearly I need to find a telecommunications job in t he US and move to Poland. I could live like a king.

[Petit Papillon]

Hahahaha I bet you would. Poland is ideal if you live there and earn money abroad then you can like a king

[Sonrisa]

not sure if anyone mentioned it, but the healthcare reform also will be taxing working people, like me, for the health insurance that is provided by my employer, which would mean an additional $4,000 of taxes alone, so that the rest who are not working could have health insurance. what do you think about it?

[misombra]

If you understood what that crackhead is being treated for, and how expensive it is to treat him/her, combined with the knowledge that they will go right back out and continue getting high, only to be readmitted to the hospital in the not-too-distant future, you might sing another song. I was speaking to someone last night that said it cost them $40,000 to spend the weekend in the hospital when they only needed monitoring because of a heart arrhythmia. It would cost a hell of a lot more to treat a crackhead who has multiple organ failure.

i think we are wrong in the way we are treating drug addicts. i think it would be much cheaper to give them all the crack they wanted, subsidized by the government, and let them smoke their lives away. it would also cause less crime. there should be help for people who want it too.

i feel that way about alcoholics. they go into the hospital and they could be treated with alcohol. i say give them a beer and send them home. send them home with a prescription of beer and get a pharmacy that delivers.

way cheaper than all the interventions they do in the hospital.

[Lipp]

i think we are wrong in the way we are treating drug addicts. i think it would be much cheaper to give them all the crack they wanted, subsidized by the government, and let them smoke their lives away. it would also cause less crime. there should be help for people who want it too.

i feel that way about alcoholics. they go into the hospital and they could be treated with alcohol. i say give them a beer and send them home. send them home with a prescription of beer and get a pharmacy that delivers.

way cheaper than all the interventions they do in the hospital.

I know that back home in Sweden there are cases where they medically administer heroin in small dosages so that the addict is able to live and work without being severely impeded by the withdrawal symptoms, but also controlled enough so that they don't OD or space out completely. Not sure if they combine it with incrementally reduced dosages or not.

[misombra]

I know that back home in Sweden there are cases where they medically administer heroin in small dosages so that the addict is able to live and work without being severely impeded by the withdrawal symptoms, but also controlled enough so that they don't OD or space out completely. Not sure if they combine it with incrementally reduced dosages or not.

damn sweeds and their reinforcement of drug addiction!!!

[Mish]

I hear (continually) that there is a severe shortage of ALL medical professionals in Australia, and they routinely recruit from other countries. In fact, I know a couple of people in the hospital who are planning to move to Australia because they were recruited there.

[url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/198888.php]Medical Internship Shortage At Crisis Point - Australian Medical Association[/url]

I think this is to do with the general across the board skills shortage in Australia (we have smaller population compared to other developed countries) and not that doctors are not making enough money.

not sure if anyone mentioned it, but the healthcare reform also will be taxing working people, like me, for the health insurance that is provided by my employer, which would mean an additional $4,000 of taxes alone, so that the rest who are not working could have health insurance. what do you think about it?

That's pretty much what happens here, though we don't pay 4,000 in taxes, are you sure that figure is correct? But personally, I'm a bit surprised by this point of view which goes something like "why should I give money to support all these parasites". What about contributing towards a system which will help you out if ever you have a misfortune of an expesnive surgery that would otherwise send you bankrupt? Doesn't it feel good to know that if a disaster strikes you willl have something to fall back on? What about compassion towards those who are less fortunate than you? I don't understand why the less fortunate are always so dehumanized in US, it's not like a rich fat cat who doesn't deserve it is going to cheat you out of your hard earned money here and get all the free surgeries they can eat while making millions on the side, the people who will use these services will be the ones who are in a real bind, you wouldn't want to be in their shoes. That's what I don't understand and I guess, the reason why I started this thread.

I was speaking to someone last night that said it cost them $40,000 to spend the weekend in the hospital when they only needed monitoring because of a heart arrhythmia. It would cost a hell of a lot more to treat a crackhead who has multiple organ failure.

Does it really cost that much to spend a weekend in the hospital for monitoring? Or are these 10 times over inflated prices squezed by private sector? How come it was so expensive, were they charging $10,000 for a bed? That's another thing I was thinking about, I wonder how many unethical practices are going on in the health industry in US at the moment that would get cleaned up by some proper regulation.

[Sonrisa]

I think this is to do with the general across the board skills shortage in Australia (we have smaller population compared to other developed countries) and not that doctors are not making enough money.



That's pretty much what happens here, though we don't pay 4,000 in taxes, are you sure that figure is correct? But personally, I'm a bit surprised by this point of view which goes something like "why should I give money to support all these parasites". What about contributing towards a system which will help you out if ever you have a misfortune of an expesnive surgery that would otherwise send you bankrupt? Doesn't it feel good to know that if a disaster strikes you willl have something to fall back on? What about compassion towards those who are less fortunate than you? I don't understand why the less fortunate are always so dehumanized in US, it's not like a rich fat cat who doesn't deserve it is going to cheat you out of your hard earned money here and get all the free surgeries they can eat while making millions on the side, the people who will use these services will be the ones who are in a real bind, you wouldn't want to be in their shoes. That's what I don't understand and I guess, the reason why I started this thread.



Does it really cost that much to spend a weekend in the hospital for monitoring? Or are these 10 times over inflated prices squezed by private sector? How come it was so expensive, were they charging $10,000 for a bed? That's another thing I was thinking about, I wonder how many unethical practices are going on in the health industry in US at the moment that would get cleaned up by some proper regulation.

all of my "less fortunate" lazy friends who are sitting on welfare, are already covered by medical for all their health needs.

and besides that, I think we already covered the issue back in the beginning of the year how much high income people like me and vash are already paying for our income taxes and are being taxed throughtout the year in general. do you really think it's fair to throw an additional 4k on us? i am not sure how much it would be for vash, since her employer might not be paying as much as mine since she is working in a medical industry and i am for private company.

all medical facilities charge according to the official medical fee schedule, so it has nothing to do with private sectors. when i went to the hospital last year, my insurance complany got billed 5k for having me there for an hour, giving a couple of pills and putting me on IV.

[vashti]

Does it really cost that much to spend a weekend in the hospital for monitoring? Or are these 10 times over inflated prices squezed by private sector? How come it was so expensive, were they charging $10,000 for a bed? That's another thing I was thinking about, I wonder how many unethical practices are going on in the health industry in US at the moment that would get cleaned up by some proper regulation.

Of course it does. Someone has to pay for all the people who don't have insurance.

I know that back home in Sweden there are cases where they medically administer heroin in small dosages so that the addict is able to live and work without being severely impeded by the withdrawal symptoms, but also controlled enough so that they don't OD or space out completely. Not sure if they combine it with incrementally reduced dosages or not.

We do that, too.... only we have methadone clinics.