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US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

theguardian.com

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Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#41

Post by croes »

cat_plus_plus wrote: post #20

Because we are paying for the rest of the world. Allow prescription drug imports from abroad. Pharma companies will be forced to charge more in the rest of the world and less in US. Allow insurance plans based on medical tourism for expensive procedures. Some countries will say no, but a lot of countries will say yes for profit. Once you have a choice of a hip replacement in Mexico or India, hospitals in these countr…

>Because we are paying for the rest of the world

Don't blame a domestic problem on the rest of the world

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#42

Post by mytailorisrich »

vidarh wrote: post #33
naming_the_user wrote: post #2

What does the ranking look like if you compare percentiles? Naively I would assume as a non-American that if you're in the top 20% by income in the US you end up much better off than the top 20% income Brit, for example. Or is it just actually worse for everyone? It feels intuitively obvious that the average will be worse because, well, the average person is skint and the US is less socialist.

As someone in the UK with income in the top 1%, I have never bothered with private insurance because I genuinely don't feel I need it. I occasionally pay for private GP services, and I've paid for some private services for my son, but for the most part the NHS works. It has waiting times for non-essential things, and if you don't want that, you can pay for insurance that gets you seen faster and it costs a pittance.…

As soon as you need treatment beyond standard GP/prescriptions, like checks/analyses or specialised consultation/treatment then private insurance comes very handy to get good care quickly.

Waiting times are not only for non-essential things. The only thing with no waiting time is A&E if you are in immediate danger of death.

The NHS is some "safety net" that does the bare minimum at this point, or no longer anything at all (eg. dentistry).

Interestingly, nowadays if you have a good job and private insurance in China you get better routine checks than in Europe/UK. Even Chinese hospitals are extremely thorough and quick compared to British ones (at least the main Chinese cities)

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#43

Post by ahoef »

cat_plus_plus wrote: post #20

Because we are paying for the rest of the world. Allow prescription drug imports from abroad. Pharma companies will be forced to charge more in the rest of the world and less in US. Allow insurance plans based on medical tourism for expensive procedures. Some countries will say no, but a lot of countries will say yes for profit. Once you have a choice of a hip replacement in Mexico or India, hospitals in these countr…

So is the EU. Most of it goes to stockholders.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#44

Post by croes »

jraby3 wrote: post #29
cat_plus_plus wrote: post #20

Because we are paying for the rest of the world. Allow prescription drug imports from abroad. Pharma companies will be forced to charge more in the rest of the world and less in US. Allow insurance plans based on medical tourism for expensive procedures. Some countries will say no, but a lot of countries will say yes for profit. Once you have a choice of a hip replacement in Mexico or India, hospitals in these countr…

A huge portion of our healthcare goes to paying health insurance providers, high rates for pharmaceuticals, and hospitals. There's a reason these industries in the US are some of the most profitable. They act as middle men and make massive profits.

Because everything else is communism according to many US citizens.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#45

Post by MrDresden »

shiroiushi wrote: post #18
brtkdotse wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re a billionaire EVERYTHING is fantastic.

Not necessarily: if you're famous, you might have a hard time going out in public.

There are 2781 billioners in the world (according to first search result).

I'm fairly sure most of those can go out for dinner or drinks and no one would know who they were.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#46

Post by ein0p »

vidarh wrote: post #25
ein0p wrote: post #8

Lately I can’t even get a doctor - both the specialist and primary care doctors are booked months in advance. And I have one of the best insurance coverages currently available. Remember how we laughed at Canadians and Brits waiting for months to see their free/cheap doctors? Well we’re at a point where we have to wait _and_ pay through the nose. And then they can’t really do anything or fuck you up even worse.

Not that I'm trying to make you feel worse about it: In the UK we pay less per capita in taxes toward healthcare than you do in the US (or at least did last I added up the numbers - Medicare and Medicaid alone added up to a higher per capita cost than the NHS), and if we do want private health insurance, which here is basically "queue skip insurance", it costs a fraction of in the US because they only need to provide…

The US is so corrupt that I’m afraid any attempt at universal healthcare would make it even more expensive. Obamacare was basically a trillion dollar giveaway to Big Pharma and Big Healthcare. The only positive thing I can see in it for me personally is that it became possible to buy (extremely expensive) healthcare privately rather than through an employer, and you could not be denied due to pre-existing condition. Don’t get me wrong, that’s significant, but the insurance is now three times the price it was before Obamacare and the actual care is much worse. And both the cost and quality/availability seem to be trending in the wrong direction.

I guess what I wanted to say is, lucky you. Hold onto that NHS for dear life and resist any attempt to privatize it. It’s very much a one way street.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#47

Post by croes »

ahoef wrote: post #43
cat_plus_plus wrote: post #20

Because we are paying for the rest of the world. Allow prescription drug imports from abroad. Pharma companies will be forced to charge more in the rest of the world and less in US. Allow insurance plans based on medical tourism for expensive procedures. Some countries will say no, but a lot of countries will say yes for profit. Once you have a choice of a hip replacement in Mexico or India, hospitals in these countr…

So is the EU. Most of it goes to stockholders.

The US is a completely different level.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#48

Post by croes »

jimbob45 wrote: post #3

It's unfair to judge the EU piecewise but then judge the US as a whole. Either let us compare apples to apples by judging the whole EU against the US or let us judge individual European member states against individual US states.

Why. The US is one country the EU is not.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#49

Post by suslik »

usr1106 wrote: post #23
ein0p wrote: post #8

Lately I can’t even get a doctor - both the specialist and primary care doctors are booked months in advance. And I have one of the best insurance coverages currently available. Remember how we laughed at Canadians and Brits waiting for months to see their free/cheap doctors? Well we’re at a point where we have to wait _and_ pay through the nose. And then they can’t really do anything or fuck you up even worse.

You forgot to mention what country you are talking about. That seems to be American. Difficulties to get an appointment is also common in at least some areas of the EU countries I am familiar with.

Indeed. My girlfriend is waiting for ADHD appointment in Sweden - 2 years and counting.

Re: US health system ranks last compared with peer nations – report

#50

Post by crummy »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #15
jimbob45 wrote: post #3

It's unfair to judge the EU piecewise but then judge the US as a whole. Either let us compare apples to apples by judging the whole EU against the US or let us judge individual European member states against individual US states.

Ugh. This. Not just for healthcare though, for everything. Using small wealthy countries with populations smaller than our states as a comparison against our continent sized country is really not helping or proving anything.

Does having a bigger country mean health care is more expensive? How come?
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