Health care is turning into a consumer product

US Healthcare is not the 'worst performing', that's a perennial clickbait theme.

Health issues are bad in the US, and people use that as 'evidence' for quality of the Healthcare system, but that's not fair.

People shooting each other, not eating well or exercising, isn't so much a function of the US Healthcare system.

The US system is probably the most economically inefficient, but that's also expected at the highest end of quality.

The US has most of the best quality systems in the world, it's just expensive and messed up financially, but the quality itself is something to behold.

While I share your reservations about 'privately backed things' - for example, advertising arcane drugs in the US is ridiculous, this whole 'Ask Your Doctor' is an excuse for pushy patients to 'prescribe themselves' over the will of tired Doctors caving in ...

... that said, Theranos is the opposite example. If it had worked, it would have been because of VC backing and it would have been very beneficial to people. And there are many things like that.

Like anything, it's complicated, and we need nuanced thinking about it.

We probably should welcome a lot more VC spend, think of ways to empower doctors with the deluge of information, to empower individuals but at the same time get them to understand that they are not medical professionals and shouldn't be self-diagnosing, etc..

It's a consistent finding, usually measured in some form of healthcare outcomes per dollar spent.

Here's a recent report that measures: - Access to Care - Care Process - Administrative Efficiency - Equity - Healthcare Outcomes.

US comes last in all but Care Process among developed countries. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2...

I don't know how any American can accept the pile of trash that the US healthcare is. The only good thing is that in some cases you will get state of the art care, this is "rare" and may not result in better outcomes.

1. The cost is insane. It doesn't matter how much money you have, if you stay long term in a hospital your bill will be insane and more than an average cost of a house.

2. Single ER visit? 10 different bills over the next few months. Apparently, there is a new law trying to tackle this but hospital can opt-out by having you sign paperwork.

3. If you have an illness and need to see many doctors and have many tests in a short period of time get ready for your insurance to fight you and deny claims. You will be calling them all the time.

4. There are now 3rd party businesses set up to "VERIFY" no other party is responsible for the care you received(meaning you did not have an accident). If you fail to respond to their letters, your claim will be denied.

5. MRI, X-rays, dental work, physician visits are SO MUCH more than other developed nations. It is a joke. I'm talking without insurance here, just going to a private clinic and paying out of pocket as these also exist in Poland even though it has socialized healthcare.

6. The insurance prices are out of control, and the insurance company don't give a shit. In fact, they welcome the high prices. Obamacare capped insurance companies profit margins at a percentage of money spent, this is the result. The more they pay out, the more they make. The cost falls on the policy holders.

7. Covid is really showing cracks in for-profit healthcare. I have friends who work in the field and are complaining about people coming in with positive covid tests because they are asymptomatic. If they don't want to come in they risk getting fired, and in some areas large hospital networks own many smaller clinics and being fired may result in not being able to find a job without relocating.

Your average American doesn’t have the pull to effect change. The majority of Americans support government taking a greater role in healthcare (per Pew Research), but Congressional reps won’t vote for it, so you have to wait for people to age out for change. In the interim, everyone overpays and suffers.

The US has a strange relationship with healthcare. and by that I don't mean professionals in white coats, I mean people taking care of their health in general, of which visits to white coated professionals is only a small part.

People seem to have this attitude they can spend money (or have someone else spend money) instead of taking care of themselves. Take a pill instead. Some think every little thing is an emergency or are otherwise unreasonably terrified (Recent Covid scare comes to mind. A very real and serious disease but some people inaccurately assess their risk and become neurotic). Unfortunately it doesn't work like buying a new car.

Many years back I dated a girl who was a physical therapist. She loved going to the doctor and hospital. When she felt slightly sad she would get "sick" and go get some attention which she paid through the nose for. I'm exactly the opposite and likely to Steve Jobs myself to death in the end.

I've read (don't know how true it is) that Americans take something like 60% of the worlds prescription drugs.

The whole thing is completely unbalanced and I don't believe other areas of the world are like this. Because of this I don't see an easy solution for the US. The government taking over health care is likely to result in deep dissatisfaction but the current system is super wasteful and frankly just bonkers.

The thing people don't want to understand for some reason is reality. Sometimes we feel bad. Sometimes we get sick. Eventually we will die. Sometimes medical professionals can help. Very often they cannot but that won't prevent them from billing you large sums of money. Also it's not rare for professionals to worsen the situation. Incentives are not always aligned and the body is a very complex system. Throw the US mid level manager hospital pharma insurance scam complex in the mix and incentives misalign even further.

The best dentist I've ever been to was in Mexico. Light years ahead of what I'd experienced in the US without the ceremony. The best doctor I've ever been to is an old time country veterinarian in his 60's. But that was for my dogs. Real practical sense a and humility with an eye to results and the understanding of uncertainty involved. I've always thought that's who I would like to treat me in the event of serious illness and practically speaking there little no reason he couldn't in most cases because I'm not very different then my dogs physically. In neither case was the hospital-pharma-insurance scam complex involved. That groups has made things immensely worse and killed large numbers of people.

Don't get me started on psych drug overuse in the US.