|
DesideriScuri -> RE: A question for Canadians, Brits and any other citizen of a country with nationalize health care (10/10/2013 8:54:14 AM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Phoenixpower
As far as I read about that topic in the past, and quoted in other threads, in other countries like ours, more is being done in earlier check-ups...so potential diseases or risk of getting them are being dealt with before it breaks out (e.g. risk of diabetes) or in its early stages (like cancer) and that way huge costs are being safed with catching it early instead of catching it very late...
Personally I am grateful that my parents did not go into debt when mum was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and that she did not have to worry about her costs of treatment, or fear of running towards bankruptcy or losing their house.
Beside the prescription fees for her medication and minimal fees for the days she stayed in hospital when her tumour got removed, she had no medical costs to pay and could solely focus on resting and getting better again.
She even could keep her breasts as she was lucky enough to belong to the 5% of folks where the tumour went back completely...cause it was checked at first if the tumour actually responds to the treatment...instead of going straight to the big chop decision to amputate...
I consider myself lucky to have a good health care system over here on Germany [:)]
Here's the thing, though, Phoenix, do we need insurance to take better care of ourselves? Why is the cost of diagnostic services so much higher in the US? Does the US have 3x better MRI scanners? Are our medical personnel 3x better? If they are better, it's not likely to be by a large margin.
The whole idea that needing insurance to pay for those things is ludicrous. If our costs were the same as they are in Germany, more people could afford to pay for them out of pocket, rather than requiring insurance for them to be affordable (ignore, for now, that insurance itself isn't affordable).
Regardless of how health care services are paid for, what do you think the health care costs of the US would do if the cost of individual services and procedures was the same as those in Germany (not "set" by government, but as determined by the Market)?
I had a friend working in Germany that ran into some minor trouble with the health care system there. He was working for an American company and covered by American health insurance. He had to get some tests done. He walked into a clinic, got them done and the tests read in minimal time. The problem was that it took them forever to figure out how to accept his payment. His insurance required him to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed by the insurance company. That was the trouble. He had no difficulties affording the treatment. Getting reimbursed from his insurance company wasn't difficult, either, but the toughest issue that had to be dealt with was the means by which he was to pay the clinic. He said it took longer to figure out how they were going to accept his payment than it did for him to be seen and tested.
If our costs for services and procedures were lower, there would be less need for insurance.
|
|
|
|
