Headlines like these always read like "Man stops kicking puppy" to me.
US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
281–290 of 349 posts
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was for 200 people. Works out to about $3k per person on average.
Which is a fortune to many (most?) Americans. That's like 5% of the median income. And these people just had cancer, so it's less likely they've been able to hold down steady work.
That's less than most Americans spend on food per year, without which you die.
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
It varies from province to province [0]. What you're saying is true in some provinces but not all. However, even in the provinces without material barriers, no private sector exists. The article actually provides some solid theories. Your information about MRI waiting times isn't accurate in general - or rather paints only part of the picture. Even with the COVID situation happening now, in Ontario... Patients who sh…
"For the 90th percentile wait times, the improvements are even more significant. Province-wide, wait times went from an average of 221 days to 161 days." That's a success? Waiting half a year for an MRI? Come on. I'm Canadian and know plenty of Canadians. Wait times are one of the major issues in Canada. Yes, if you don't need it right now, you wait - sometimes years. But sometimes you need it in the next few weeks a…
90th percentile wait times for the lowest priority class - anyone who needs an MRI badly gets one immediately - literally, immediately, you walk into the next room. I’ve seen it happen to family. Yes it could be better still, yes it was improved by having the province purchase private facilities, and yes an improvement is a win.
The challenge with transparency like this is you see a number like that and freak out. The reality is need based triage works and plays a huge role.
Their goals are likely a few months, due to low need. Not every MRI needs to happen right right now, and that attitude is part of why there are wait times and shortages in the US too. Still cold and should be better!
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#284$650k gets you something like measuring of temperature and prescription of Paralen in the US, right? (I am always amazed how an act or treatment that costs around $20 in Europe costs thousands of dollars in the US and no one seems to mind.)
it doesn't, that's just what the bill says. The $500 aspirin stories are about what's printed on the bill but that is no where close to what is actually paid. This is a huge problem IMO and i mentioned it upthread. The prices printed on bills are never what's paid (unless some poor patient thinks that's what they actually owe). It's all negotiable. Taking away price negotiating and enforcing that what is on the bill…
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Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
It varies from province to province [0]. What you're saying is true in some provinces but not all. However, even in the provinces without material barriers, no private sector exists. The article actually provides some solid theories. Your information about MRI waiting times isn't accurate in general - or rather paints only part of the picture. Even with the COVID situation happening now, in Ontario... Patients who sh…
Canadian healthcare is horrible. "Out of 11 countries, Canada was ranked ninth for health care, placing just above France and the United States." https://www.kelownanow.com/news/news/National_News/Canada_ra... "217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people." https://torontos…
Btw the majority of those who “left for healthcare” are the Canadian old folks who spend half the year in America and have insurance as a result.
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#286Doesn't this debt forgiveness mean the patients are going to be hit with a tax bill for the amount forgiven this year?
I'm not an accountant (or an American), but I don't think so. USC 108(e)(2) says: > No income shall be realized from the discharge of indebtedness to the extent that payment of the liability would have given rise to a deduction. And because medical bills are deductible when itemized, I suspect they would qualify for this exemption. [1]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/108
Medical expenses are only deductible once you've exceeded a certain percentage of your income. I've never been able to deduct anything substantial, and I've had some pretty outrageous medical bills. (Cancer survivor.) And that phrase "to the extent" reads to me like it means any amount forgiven that doesn't meet the threshold is considered income.
One year I was billed $40k for radiation. You know, a thing I needed or else I would've died. I managed to negotiate that down to $25k. (While having cancer!) You'd think that would meet the threshold for deduction, but there's a catch: you can't deduct the bill, you can only deduct what you've actually paid. So if you do a payment plan, which of course I did because how the hell else was I going to pay that, now that bill is spread out too much to be eligible for deduction.
The US medical system is fucked, full stop. We wouldn't tolerate someone holding a gun to your head and saying "I'll put the gun away for $40k." And if you do manage to get treatment, now you're trapped in a game with rules only slightly more complicated than Dungeons & Dragons - and the DM is a sociopath.
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
Canadian healthcare is horrible. "Out of 11 countries, Canada was ranked ninth for health care, placing just above France and the United States." https://www.kelownanow.com/news/news/National_News/Canada_ra... "217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people." https://torontos…
Btw the majority of those who “left for healthcare” are the Canadian old folks who spend half the year in America and have insurance as a result.
source?
I know dozens that went to the US for treatments. Some even took out second mortgages because it was a choice between languishing on a waiting list with a heart condition that can kill you, or getting it fixed next week.
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
Canadian healthcare is horrible. "Out of 11 countries, Canada was ranked ninth for health care, placing just above France and the United States." https://www.kelownanow.com/news/news/National_News/Canada_ra... "217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people." https://torontos…
In your link, US is even lower. So if someone praises Canadian system in comparison to US one, it is still correct. It is absurd to show link that ranks Canada higher then US despite having problems and then proceed to ... call US the best. Also, Americans near border travel to Canada to buy drugs pretty routinely despite it being illegal.
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Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#289He has done more good than legions of software engineers who make multiples of his income.
Let's not devalue any one person's job or contribution. However, inequality of pay is real and it's a massive disparity that must be addressed. Another way of looking at it: the persons who clean the hospital are equally as valuable to the organisation as the doctors and nurses are. Without medical care, patients suffer and die. With an unclean hospital, patients suffer and die. Everyone should be paid roughly the sa…
> Everyone should be paid roughly the same, with a reasonable stipend for extra time spent training. No good reason that a doctor should be on hundreds of thousands in salary per year, and a cleaner subsists on a minimal wage.
no, there's a very simple reason for this. if for some reason there were a shortage of full-time cleaners, a doctor could clean a room in a pinch. a cleaner cannot treat a patient in lieu of a doctor, at least not with the same outcomes.
Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients
#290He has done more good than legions of software engineers who make multiples of his income.
Let's not devalue any one person's job or contribution. However, inequality of pay is real and it's a massive disparity that must be addressed. Another way of looking at it: the persons who clean the hospital are equally as valuable to the organisation as the doctors and nurses are. Without medical care, patients suffer and die. With an unclean hospital, patients suffer and die. Everyone should be paid roughly the sa…
Everybody is critical, of course. That's why they're hired.
But not everybody is easily replacable. That's why they have different pay. And that is indeed a very good reason a doctor earns more.
Doubt that? Then get your cleaner to take out your appendix.