201–210 of 305 posts
Medical stories from the US always sound like from third world countries to me...
As long as you have money the US is great.
Why would anyone take this seriously?
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But that's the difference between buying insurance, which is an actuarial product you buy to guard against unfortunate events, and buying a service or subscription, which is available for your use when you desire to use it. Let's ask a simple question to determine which is which in the US: because attending your annual checkups reduces your risk of needing expensive treatment, somebody who attends their annual checku…
>attending your annual checkups reduces your risk of needing expensive treatment Btw, there's no evidence of this. Zero...zip...zilch...none. http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.h6080
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> Health care costs have spiraled out of control because of the detachment of who is paying from who is receiving the service — much like higher education. No, they have spiralled out of control because health care is something where no real market can exists, so you need good regulation (which the USA doesn't have). If you have an urgent and life-threatening health problem you can't shop around for a cheaper hospita…
Why not? You also can't live without food but there is a market for that. Even when you don't have time to cook and need food on short notice, there are plenty of fast food and delivery options available. There is nothing impossible about a situation where a hospital has a reputation for being cheap but having long wait times while another hospital is more expensive but has shorter wait times. Then in an urgency you…
I've been wondering about this for a while but, is there a reason why Uber or an alternative cannot/should not get into the Ambulance space, if it were able to get qualified staff. I feel like Ambulances/Hospitals charge way too much and using the app/tech at a basic level to connect the ambulances with patients addresses may be a good start for everyone and also the increase in supply may reduce costs.
When people criticize 'Silicon-Valley-Types' for only being able to think of technical solutions to social problems, it's exactly this kind of thing they have in mind. Just read this thread - the way medical care is paid for in the US is batshit-insane, injured people not wanting to call an ambulance incase they lose their house - and reads like a history book about european medieval history. The solution is not more…
The US would be a better place with that hypothetical startup.
If Obama couldn't successfully reform healthcare long-term (as Trump will repeal it sooner or later), what can regular people do?
Let them make that app.
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Why not? You also can't live without food but there is a market for that. Even when you don't have time to cook and need food on short notice, there are plenty of fast food and delivery options available. There is nothing impossible about a situation where a hospital has a reputation for being cheap but having long wait times while another hospital is more expensive but has shorter wait times. Then in an urgency you…
You can live for weeks without food, it can be stored easily (unlike services which aren't stored at all), and the barrier to entry is low... Many people even have their own food gardens. It's also very amenable to nearly complete automation. Therefore food is super cheap.
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>attending your annual checkups reduces your risk of needing expensive treatment Btw, there's no evidence of this. Zero...zip...zilch...none. http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.h6080
So, you're claiming that since certain cancer screenings are ineffective it therefore means that managing issues such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes are also ineffective? That seems like a stretcher to me, and I'm not buying it.
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Is it a good place to live? What about racism etc?
You'll be hard-pressed to find the sort of systematic racism found in the US (especially by institutions) anywhere in Europe. Sure, you might get the occasional glance if you are black especially in Eastern Europe and it's mostly because out of curiosity since there are not many African immigrants in ex-Communist countries as there are in, say, France. But other than that you'll be fine. I should say though that East…
This ia really common misconception perpetuated by (white) Europeans. It couldn't be more wrong.
Systemic racism is pervasive throughout Europe, and in many ways, it's even more institutionalized in Europe than it is in the US.
Please stop spreading the myth that Europe is free of institutionalized racism, or even that it's somehow better in this regard than the US.
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In most places in the US, the local cab companies are terrible. They might answer the phone, they might show up, and they might try to scam you. Imagine you call a taxicab for a medical emergency, and they never show up, or only after an hour. Uber and Lyft are extremely popular because the apps always tell you if a driver will come, the drivers almost always arrive very quickly, and the price is set in advance. I'd…
Not to mention that there are consequences if an Uber/Lyft driver blows off a confirmed ride, and even if they do, you can request another one immediately. In the case of taxi dispatch, a car may never show up, and you won't know until you get tired of waiting, and there are no consequences for the taxi company or driver if they do this. Pre-Uber, in SF, the normal quoted wait from a taxi dispatcher was on the order…
depends on the country and the taxi company. England has a reasonably effective regulatory regime for taxis and cabs.