The Amish health care system
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The Amish health care system
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Re: The Amish health care system
#2I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past
> I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, because bills were cheap. Rich people paid extra for fancy hospital suites and helped subsidize everyone else.
In other words... allow rampant inequality in the healthcare system. The rich would pay for their designer surgeries, and let that subsidize the rest.
Re: The Amish health care system
#3I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
Medicine was also way less tech-heavy, so the costs were objectively less. Invasive surgeries and similarly advanced treatments are incredibly complex high-tech and high-skill undertakings. If you look at the high end of medicine it's like they're routinely pulling off moon shots: carefully excising brain tumors, separating conjoined twins, transplanting living organs, etc.
I am not suggesting this explains all of it. Our health care system is definitely overpriced and overloaded with badly designed bureaucracy, but it definitely explains some of it.
Re: The Amish health care system
#4I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
That inequality is still present, except that now, the system is:
* Poor people either get hit with huge bills because they're uninsured, or, if they know how to navigate the system, sometimes get these bills written off through "financial aid."
* Middle class people frequently have insurance, but get hammered by deductibles and out of pocket maximums, rarely qualifying for "financial aid." This can be ruinous.
* The rich still get what they want.
If the rich are "subsidizing" things anymore, it's not to a great enough extent to benefit the poor and middle class. The system has been broken over the past 40 years by medical and insurance costs that have risen much faster than the rate of wage growth for the average worker.
Re: The Amish health care system
#5I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
The hospitals I'm familiar with have VIP suites for the "haves". The only difference is everyone else gets into a lifetime of debt now too. Ability to afford medication and insurance is a question that is brought up during liver transplant panels. An alcoholic physician, politician, or celebrity is much more likely to get an organ transplant than any other alcoholic. Inequality of health is still rife here.
Re: The Amish health care system
#6I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
I cannot imagine this covers access issues. There are a great number of communities without wealthy people near them.
Re: The Amish health care system
#7I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
I think there is much more expensive tech in medicine today. But in general I would be fine If I had affordable health care that’s maybe a few years behind the cutting edge. In most markets things get commoditized and cheaper but this doesn’t seem to happen in health care.
Re: The Amish health care system
#8I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
How do you come away with an inequality issue from a setup where everyone got treated at a fair price and the rich subsidized others?
Re: The Amish health care system
#9I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
That's what some universal systems already do. I was reading up on Singapore. There is a baseline of insurance for hospital stays, but it's in a ward with 6 other patients in the same room.
If you want something better (and there are tiers), you pay more. You can buy insurance policies that pay for the more comfortable stay.
Re: The Amish health care system
#10I thought the most interesting part was the commentary on non-Amish care in the past > I asked my literal grandmother, a 95 year old former nurse, how health care worked in her day. She said it just wasn’t a problem. Hospitals were supported by wealthy philanthropists and religious organizations. Poor people got treated for free. Middle class people paid as much as they could afford, which was often the whole bill, b…
That's what some universal systems already do. I was reading up on Singapore. There is a baseline of insurance for hospital stays, but it's in a ward with 6 other patients in the same room. If you want something better (and there are tiers), you pay more. You can buy insurance policies that pay for the more comfortable stay.
Another place in SEAsia where it’s single payer but while everyone (legally employed persons) people who want good treatment go to private hospitals because of expertise, availability and the ability to get private rooms.