71–80 of 163 posts
Can we please just implement some level of universal healthcare. The fact that healthcare is tied directly to payers, who fight over how to much to pay, is ridiculous. Imagine your local hospital shutting down because the hospital charged $50 for aspirin but the insurer wanted $40.
It’s really interesting how the US has managed to get a health system that’s extremely expensive, doesn’t cover everybody, is highly bureaucratic and complex, delivers below average outcomes and has overworked hospital staff. And somehow people defend this system because it works fine for the top few percent (especially the people in Congress) and people who have Medicare or VA.
Is there any country with a medical system that people don't complain about? For instance is there anyone in the world that would agree: "Gee, my healthcare is so cheap, it's surprising that it covers everything I want it to without me needing to go out of my way to justify my treatment options and I have so many medical professionals available to me at a moments notice!"
We are #37 according to the world health organization and we cost twice as much.
I'm sure people in France complain, but they have way less of a reason to.
Some reasons for the cost savings: universal, portable medical record, insurance companies have to remit with three business days, reference pricing, one system not medicare, VA, private. Private insurance companies don't make tons of money they are so well regulated...
Old source but still painfully relevant. I have seen these stats elsewhere as well: https://www.npr.org/2008/07/11/92419273/health-care-lessons-...
I don't know how you can realistically look at this without thinking of the "I never thought leopards would eat MY face!!" meme. Politics matters. Voters in rural areas (generally, of course) have consistently voted against policies that would help support health care in these rural locations, such voting in politicians who are staunchly against Obamacare, who refuse any expansion or even adequate support for Medicai…
The article is arguing that private payers don't reimburse rural hospitals enough, not that lack of medicaid or obamacare is an issue. Perhaps your premise is correct but it is at odds with the article, I would be interested in hearing more about why you disagree with the article. From the article "The biggest problem facing small rural hospitals is inadequate payments from private health plans. Most “solutions” for…
Why should the burden of keeping small rural hospitals open fall entirely on private health plans? Perhaps hospitals should advocate for higher Medicare reimbursement rates.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The NHS is one of the most beloved institutions on the planet AFAICT. Of course everyone would prefer if everything were better all the time, but complaints about the US system and clearly not on the same plane as those about UK’s.
Unless you're reading news items about no ambulances or beds, being left on trollies in corridors, waiting lists for procedures lack of available GP appointments. Before covid not as a result.
It was sad when we had to use personal connections to get grandma a meal and room after 12 hours in the corridor.
It’s really interesting how the US has managed to get a health system that’s extremely expensive, doesn’t cover everybody, is highly bureaucratic and complex, delivers below average outcomes and has overworked hospital staff. And somehow people defend this system because it works fine for the top few percent (especially the people in Congress) and people who have Medicare or VA.
My opinion of VA healthcare dropped a lot living next to a VA hospital. There were a lot of homeless nearby who seemed to be veterans who had come for the hospital.
I don't know how you can realistically look at this without thinking of the "I never thought leopards would eat MY face!!" meme. Politics matters. Voters in rural areas (generally, of course) have consistently voted against policies that would help support health care in these rural locations, such voting in politicians who are staunchly against Obamacare, who refuse any expansion or even adequate support for Medicai…
The article is arguing that private payers don't reimburse rural hospitals enough, not that lack of medicaid or obamacare is an issue. Perhaps your premise is correct but it is at odds with the article, I would be interested in hearing more about why you disagree with the article. From the article "The biggest problem facing small rural hospitals is inadequate payments from private health plans. Most “solutions” for…
If 50% are private insurance, what are the other 50%? Wouldn't that other half influence whether the hospital has to close?
Can we please just implement some level of universal healthcare. The fact that healthcare is tied directly to payers, who fight over how to much to pay, is ridiculous. Imagine your local hospital shutting down because the hospital charged $50 for aspirin but the insurer wanted $40.
This is "too big to fail" logic applied to hospitals. How do our basic life services always become captured by huge organizations that are poorly run and require bailouts by the government? Or is "too big to fail" just a ploy by those organizations to entrench themselves even further in our lives?
Admittedly, I never got past ECON 201, so I'm probably wrong on something here.
People here seem to go straight to politics on US healthcare, but does anyone ever stop to consider that this really is a complicated problem? I’ll look at two political extremes: - in a pure-market healthcare situation, these hospitals likely wouldn’t exist in the first place. Health services would be worse than they are now in rural areas, to the point that many probably wouldn’t have “real” health services at all…
Most of the rural hospitals I know will send you "to the big city" anyway for specialized procedures.
I'm not 100% sure about the conclusion, in which we force private insurers to cover the cost for rural services. I suggest there is a middle ground where rural life is reformed slightly to become economically sustainable. Rural America is in many ways ridiculously expensive to serve, and not just for health care. Consolidating populations into compact towns that have several thousand people fixes a lot of those cost…