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'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

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Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#121

Post by venturecruelty »

Insanity wrote: post #77
cubefox wrote: post #54

It should be mentioned that the US has very high wages, and even when subtracting substantial health care insurance cost, the income likely remains higher than what people earn in most other countries.

You should go tell that to the waiters who are working for tips. Reads a bit like you’re in a bubble. I have friends in the States who work in education, construction, and hospitality. I similarly have friends working in those fields in EU. I’d say the ones in EU are better off _and_ don’t worry about healthcare. Not to mention you get actual vacation time in Europe and a higher standard of living generally.

Don'tcha know, the only real jobs are "software developer" and "haver of lots of money for investing in software developers". Everyone else can pay $10,000 for their surgery.

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#122

Post by johnnienaked »

jameslk wrote: post #53

At what point does it become a better financial decision to do telehealth and medical procedures completely in a different country? Can you be health insured outside of the country you live?

Ironically, a great many people from public systems actually come here to pay for procedures they cannot get or have to wait ages for.

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#123

Post by nradov »

klipklop wrote: post #106
nradov wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PE is a convenient whipping boy but it's not the main problem. There has been so much consolidation of health systems and other provider organizations in some regions that they now effectively have monopolies, allowing them to jack up prices. The effect is largely the same whether the owner is a PE firm or a non-profit foundation. In order to counteract that we would need much more vigorous antitrust enforcement, whi…

Isn’t it fair to argue that it’s PE doing all this consolidation?

No, it's not fair to argue that. While PE has done some roll ups with certain specialties in certain areas the big health systems are mostly not owned by PE firms. In some areas they're literally owned by churches. I'm not defending abusive PE practices here but if we want to fix anything we need to be clear about what's actually happening.

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#124

Post by johnnienaked »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #6

I read healthcare now amounts to buying a new car every year. (Except, of course, nothing new in your driveway, nothing to resell, etc.)

I pay $120/mo. I don't understand. Are you including the employer paid share in this calculation?

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#125

Post by johnnienaked »

frogperson wrote: post #68
runako wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is misleading. Health insurance premiums cost about as much as buying a new car every year. Healthcare is generally on top of those premium payments.

Yep, you and your employer pay $3500/month for the premium. Then you as an individual have a $12k to $15k per year deductible before the insurance even kicks in.

12-15k? Lol the highest one Ive ever seen in a high deductible plan was $7500 and that still had some co-pays and coinsurance

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#126

Post by harmmonica »

protocolture wrote: post #108

I find the US healthcare "system" to be an interesting topic. More nuanced than people think. It honestly seems like the worst way to run anything. Like I honestly cant see who its for, other than maybe US Corporations on the list of approved medical vendors. Like, putting on my "Lives in a free(ish) healthcare country" hat, it looks bonkers from that angle. But even from a more libertarian mode, the whole thing look…

The US, today, is set up very well for wealthy people. The health care system works great for them. Their doctors are amongst the best in the world. Same with the hospitals they use. The costs are manageable if not reasonable for all of those people. And you can actually go beyond health care and find that almost everything in the US is pretty high quality for wealthy people. Housing, their neighborhoods, their schools, etc. That might help explain why the system is set up the way it is. Everything cascades from there.

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#128

Post by almosthere »

venturecruelty wrote: post #119
nradov wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PE is a convenient whipping boy but it's not the main problem. There has been so much consolidation of health systems and other provider organizations in some regions that they now effectively have monopolies, allowing them to jack up prices. The effect is largely the same whether the owner is a PE firm or a non-profit foundation. In order to counteract that we would need much more vigorous antitrust enforcement, whi…

I'm so sick of this trope. "It's the insurance companies!" "No, it's private equity!" "No, it's the PBMs!" I don't care . Jesus Christ, going to the doctor is rapidly becoming unattainable for more and more people, including the PMC now, and all of the rich people are simply pointing at each other saying "it's the other guy!".

Burn it all down, start over.

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#129

Post by nradov »

dboreham wrote: post #88
dogemaster2028 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

You're forced to buy auto insurance.

Technically not. In many states you have the option of posting a refundable security deposit with the government to meet the minimum liability requirement as an alternative to purchasing auto insurance.

Re: 'A full-blown crisis': Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs

#130

Post by s5300 »

johnnienaked wrote: post #117
runako wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quick summary: the US does not have anything approaching a modern healthcare system. (And likely will not for quite some time due to a set of structural factors.) Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act or ACA) was an attempt to expand coverage and slow the rate of increase of costs. It did the former but less well with the latter. One other thing the ACA did is stop the scourge of scam insurers. This is a thing where peo…

Health care is fine here if you have a decent job. Health care is not that great in public systems and you still pay for it with higher taxes

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