As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
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Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#2This should be more specifically in America. The title seems overly generic.
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#3> Orla’s forehead was sealed with a dab of skin glue for $1,696.
On Reddit, where this stuff is discussed more, I just urge people if they can get away with it (they are conscious and can hide their wallet, for ex), to just give them a fake name. Almost $2k for a dab of skin glue? No! I don't care what complicated politico-economical factor lead to that. Free market, over-regulated market,expensive doctor's education loans, health insurance lobbyists, politicians, aliens, terrorists, gnomes. Doesn't matter. Putting that on the bill and sending to a parent is criminal. Fuck everything about it. Lie and cheat them and run away without feeling bad. They can say "oh but because people cheat it is so expensive", doesn't matter. They are stealing and screwing over the sick and disadvantaged, if you can turn right back and screw them, do it. Everybody for themselves.
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#4There is such an easy "American" solution to this: published pricing - http://kfor.com/2013/07/08/okc-hospital-posting-surgery-pric...
When you organize your startup, just give me 10% for the idea... ;)
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#5Both my kids required a few stitches near their eyes. Did I opt for the $30 suture kit and do it myself? or did I opt for on-demand (there & ready, patients or not) doctor analysis (risks of fractured skull or aggressive infection), sedatives (both wriggled & screamed as I held them still, how much worse without?), experienced threading, and whatever other ideals applied?
"Sure you can buy a hamburger for a dollar. But then you'd have to eat it." - local restaurant ad
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#6How on earth can you think a free market solution is appropriate for emergency medical care? For elective procedures, sure. For the ER? How do you expect the consumer to have perfect knowledge, rationality and freedom of choice in that scenario?
If your kid is gushing blood, you call an ambulance to take them wherever they can get patched up the fastest. To expect someone to shop around until they find an equilibrium between supply and demand in that situation is ludicrous. It is absolutely the role of government to provide a safety net in these situations.
Source: I live in a first-world country and thus have universal health care.
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#7The thing that scares me most about US is not NSA spying but health care system.
People can get broke by breaking their fingers.
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#8I had a panic attack in the beginning of the year which lead to severe PVCs in my heart. I freaked out and thought I was about to have a heart attack, so I decided to go to the ER. They hooked me up on an EKG and told me I was OK and that it was just anxiety. After more than an hour of monitoring and a few blood tests, they let me go home.
A few days later a $4K bill came through the mail :(
I'm appalled by the cost of health care in the US. For routine stuff the level of treatment and the expertise of doctors is not different than in Brazil, where I come from, but here I pay orders of magnitude more than I used to pay there. Health care here is so expensive that my wife said the other day that next year she's doing all her medical exams when she goes to Brazil.
What is the reason for such absurd prices in the US?
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#9How on earth can you think a free market solution is appropriate for emergency medical care? For elective procedures, sure. For the ER? How do you expect the consumer to have perfect knowledge, rationality and freedom of choice in that scenario? If your kid is gushing blood, you call an ambulance to take them wherever they can get patched up the fastest. To expect someone to shop around until they find an equilibrium…
+1 If you priced it like an airline, you'd have dynamic pricing models to obfuscate the fact that you are ~front-running clients based on their route-inquiry history (& cookies)!
Re: As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500
#10In Japan, stitching of that size would've been around $20-30. And that's not patient portion. That's the amount doctor is reimbursed by the government.