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US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

bbc.com

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Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#31

Post by etaioinshrdlu »

arcticbull wrote: post #23
Aerroon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) But at least basic modern healthcare (things that existed ~20 years ago) should be provided as (mostly) free to the patient. We need people to no…

> It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) Not in a single-payer state, no. It's also not really a problem in and of itself. You'll find that if cancer treatments are actually cheaper an…

Extremely rich people in non-USA countries can still travel elsewhere and pay exorbitant amounts for exotic treatment if they so desire. Some of those might be lifesaving.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#32

Post by Anon1096 »

arcticbull wrote: post #23
Aerroon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) But at least basic modern healthcare (things that existed ~20 years ago) should be provided as (mostly) free to the patient. We need people to no…

> It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) Not in a single-payer state, no. It's also not really a problem in and of itself. You'll find that if cancer treatments are actually cheaper an…

This isn't correct in the UK under NHS. There's a set amount NHS is willing to pay for drugs and treatment, and beyond that, it's refused altogether. You'd have to go elsewhere and on your own dime for expensive treatments. Here's a link from the BBC I quickly found but it's widely documented: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28983924

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#33

Post by unabst »

Pfhreak wrote: post #16

This is a prime example of a feel good story that is papering over systemic problems. We're meant to read this and think this doctor is a good person (and they are, at least for this act) rather than, "how is it possible there was this much medical debt for cancer treatment to forgive?" Yes, debt forgiveness is great and something we can all do as mutual aid, but we also need to acknowledge that the deeply flawed ide…

Exactly. If that was the debt at the end of his practice, just imagine how much debt he bestowed during the 30 years it ran. I wonder how many patients went bankrupt... seriously, with the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US being medical. But that wouldn't be a story. That's just every clinic in the USA. And who wants to be reminded of that?

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#34

Post by arcticbull »

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #31
arcticbull wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) Not in a single-payer state, no. It's also not really a problem in and of itself. You'll find that if cancer treatments are actually cheaper an…

Extremely rich people in non-USA countries can still travel elsewhere and pay exorbitant amounts for exotic treatment if they so desire. Some of those might be lifesaving.

Some (who don't understand the value of money) may even visit the US. My question is do you have some good examples of this, particularly where efficacy is disproportionately better?

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#35

Post by whymauri »

shakezula wrote: post #13
Areading314 wrote: post #11

One of the most unfair characteristics of US healthcare is that if the health insurance company does not cover a claim, then the patient is responsible for the payment. It is unrealistic in practice for a patient to know or understand the process by which claims are made (since they are made by an error prone and disinterested provider administrator, and are made in a non-transparent and highly complex way), and also…

And even if you can contest the denial, it can take days to months to get it back, meanwhile you’re shouldered with the burden of paying full price for your treatment with the _hope_ that they’ll reimburse you later. My fiancée has cancer, and we regularly joke that dealing with insurance companies is worse than the actual stage 3 cancer she has. They constantly deny her coverage for medications she’s been on for yea…

>My fiancée has cancer, and we regularly joke that dealing with insurance companies is worse than the actual stage 3 cancer she has.

You know what's crazy? This isn't even the first time I've heard this. Literally had the same conversation with a close friend last year. Thankfully it wasn't Stage Three and their spouse is in remission, but the financial ordeal was more stressful than the diagnosis.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#36

Post by ashtonkem »

shakezula wrote: post #13
Areading314 wrote: post #11

One of the most unfair characteristics of US healthcare is that if the health insurance company does not cover a claim, then the patient is responsible for the payment. It is unrealistic in practice for a patient to know or understand the process by which claims are made (since they are made by an error prone and disinterested provider administrator, and are made in a non-transparent and highly complex way), and also…

And even if you can contest the denial, it can take days to months to get it back, meanwhile you’re shouldered with the burden of paying full price for your treatment with the _hope_ that they’ll reimburse you later. My fiancée has cancer, and we regularly joke that dealing with insurance companies is worse than the actual stage 3 cancer she has. They constantly deny her coverage for medications she’s been on for yea…

A woman got her face bit off by a wild animal (bear I think) and did an AMA a while back; she said that the worst part of the experience was dealing with Blue Cross.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#37

Post by arcticbull »

Anon1096 wrote: post #32
arcticbull wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) Not in a single-payer state, no. It's also not really a problem in and of itself. You'll find that if cancer treatments are actually cheaper an…

This isn't correct in the UK under NHS. There's a set amount NHS is willing to pay for drugs and treatment, and beyond that, it's refused altogether. You'd have to go elsewhere and on your own dime for expensive treatments. Here's a link from the BBC I quickly found but it's widely documented: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28983924

The QALY metric they mention is exactly what I had in mind, actually, very cool.

Wealth won't get you better care, or faster care, or different in the NHS. That's the point I was making, and your article supports that position.

> "You'd have to go elsewhere and on your own dime for expensive treatments."

[In a single payer system there's nowhere else to go.] (retracted)

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#38

Post by unishark »

arcticbull wrote: post #26
unishark wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of the most unfair characteristics of US healthcare is that if the health insurance company does not cover a claim, then the patient is responsible for the payment. As a general rule this is not an unusual characteristic. Get a procedure done in another country that turns out not not be covered and they presumably will bill you for it. The mess comes about because of attempting to control prices with networks a…

In many places there aren't non-covered services on offer. And where there are, a fee schedule is published, publicly, in advance.

> And where there are, a fee schedule is published, publicly, in advance.

So you're saying the patient is responsible for the payment when the service is not covered...

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#39

Post by throwe4234234 »

amitport wrote: post #24

Why is this an article? People and organizations (even banks) and governments erase debt all the time. Sometimes it's from kindness, sometimes for PR, usually because they're unable to collect it. You can't really tell the difference among the cases.

"We can't buildings because we ran out of inches"

The whole monetary system is a joke, no not that it's evil, just that our (and govt.) attitude to it is so medieval.

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