4 out of 10 Americans delay medical care because of cost. What are your thoughts?

[Juxtapose]

So much for that whole "b-but with socialized medicine you have to wait!" Line these neocons throw out.

[RavVid]

Australia has socialized health care in some ways but not others. Essentially our federal gov't is the purchaser of health services and as such effectively puts it to tender to get a better cost price.

So I can see a GP at anytime for $0. I can usually get an appointment in a day or two and that is usually timely enough. If it is more urgent I can go and wait in the surgery till a doctor can see me. That might take a couple of hours. Or I can go to Emergency Dept at a public hospital again for $0. Or I can get a home visit again for $0.

Works pretty well. The same applies to medicine in that there is a tendering process. Most medicine will cost $6 a script and if I am on a lot of meds there is a safety net and above that it is $0.

Specialists are different. They charge high and most of the charge is your cost. Additionally there can be long waits for the best. I'm doubt it would be different in most countries and in any case those specialties are available through public hospitals for $0.

Essentially this system puts medical services to tender to get a lower community cost as no individual has any opportunity to negotiate costs. So in a sense far from socialist it is applying capitalism at it's best to lower costs.

It is a though every health insurer in the US clubbed together and put all medical processes to tender for their members benefit.

If you want to you can have private insurance but it is seldom beneficial as if you have a medical emergency then most likely you will end up in a public hospital as they are most likely to have a bed for you.

[es20490446e]

The guy on the video, very funny :D

[Aerissa_Jade]

My uncle died in Canada on the waiting list for health care, and at the time he usually come to the states to get faster health care (he had the money) out of pocket but the border was closed due to covid so he was stuck.

Many think if the border had been opened he would still be alive today.

I say people should get healthcare if they can't afford it, then make a payment plan and stick to it. I know of no hospital that won't do a payment plan, plus if people really understood FQHC they do income checks and will write off a portion based on your income, 20/40/60/80/100% in a way the US already has socialized medicine, if your poor enough you can have 80% or a 100% of your hospital bill written off.

Not all hospitals are Federally qualified Health centers so stick to those if your poor, avoid the others.

What is the definition for a federally qualified health center what is the purpose of an FQHC?

Federally funded nonprofit health centers or clinics that serve medically underserved areas and populations. Federally qualified health centers provide primary care services regardless of your ability to pay.

FQHC clinics help improve the quality of life for millions of their underserved patients. Their preventative care is cost efficient and allows many patients to have access to affordable immunizations, mammograms, Pap smears, health education, and other screenings.

https://www.fqhc.org/find-an-fqhc

[Nikki1989]

I had day surgery in the US and was billed $38,000. I moved to Australia over 3 years and so far have paid less than $200 for all my medical expenses.

[RavVid]

That was a large amount for day surgery and not even taking up a bed overnight. I'm staggered. How major was that surgery? It is impolite to ask but I would like to get a sense of how major it was.

Yes the Australian system is better. I known health professionals original from UK who think our system much better than the NHS the UK has.

[NamerOfStars]

Dude- it's not a "line"; it's the TRUTH. That one system has problems doesn't mean any other option is better. Do you honestly think having the government pay for all our medical costs would somehow make them LESS expensive? The same government that sends billion-dollar aircraft to fight guys whose latest weapons technology is the AK-47? The same government that deploys fax machines that cost as much as four suburban houses and spent more than NASA's entire annual budget on air conditioning (not the whole war, not all the housing costs, just air conditioning) for deployed troops in not one but TWO pointless wars?

Out-of-control costs plague our medical system; no one would deny that. But you won't make them go down by handing control over to the least financial responsible organization in human history.

And that's just the FINANCIAL side- remember how upset people got last year when the government decided that there was no basis for a Supreme Court ruling banning anti-abortion laws? Or how upset they got the year before when so many members of it tried to force people to take an untested mutagen? How do you think THOSE people would feel if the government were given control of ALL their medical decisions?

[Levin]

That's always been evident to me with my experience of Americans asking for medical advice, sometimes for quite serious things, on the internet.

I mean, don't get me wrong, the UK system is shit in a lot of ways, but I definitely don't envy the US system. We have adverts for private insurance here. And while their adverts make it seem like they care, in bold writing at the bottom, kind of sums it up. 'Existing conditions not covered'.

Overall, I try and avoid Westernised medical care anyway, since if you need it you're already usually pretty fucked. Of course, excepting trauma and surgery, etc.

[OfMiceandMen]

You can have some long waits in Canada, however, if you are a priority, and truly need help, you're admitted quickly into the ER. They ascertain this when you come into triage at the emergency. However, "free healthcare" comes with its ups and downs, you get all kinds of idiots out there that clog the system for a sniffle or stubbed toe.

I've been to the ER down in the states when I was in Florida, yes they were much quicker, but they seemed to care less, just seemed to worry about whether you had insurance and billings, just a number.

I can see why someone would put off going to the hospital in both countries. Not sure about others bc I had no issues or concerns when I was visiting.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I've had both types (social insurances and paid out of pocket)
Unfortunately, when you don't pay out of pocket, the quality (not just the speed of care), drops significantly.

While insurance is better better than nothing, the better doctors won't take insurances, and the few that do will do that absolute minumum (sometimes even less than that) in terms of care.

People have died do to the incomptetence, laziness, and outright malpractices caused by insurance paod doctors at a much higher rate than out of pocket ones. Likeky do to the fact that insurance companies csn be told whatever bs by the doctor in terms of how they handled the patient, often covering up malpractice and still getting paid, whereas out of pocket doctors have to worry about not pissing off the patient or risk not gettting paid.

It's sad, but in most cases, most doctors are too lazy and selfish to make insurance practical.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Sorry for typos, I'm tired.

[Juxtapose]

I have experienced socialized medicine and it was professional, quick and very cheap. I have no complaints.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I have a laundry list of complaints, enough to basically not bother with most insurance paod doctors

[TheSpaceGnome]

paid*

[RealMarek]

We have the worst of both worlds for people who are not poor and also not covered by corporate benefits: a prohibitively expensive system with a labyrinthine bureaucracy and little transparency in pricing. The neocons are filthy neo-trotskyites who will set the whole world on fire if given a chance. Clear them out!

[Weapon77]

I think we need to make an actual effort to not be a nation of fat, unhealthy schmucks so that health care and health insurance will start getting cheaper. Healthcare and insurance were once reasonably priced, but through over indulgence and poor decisions, we've fucked our own bodies to the point that most of us are huge liabilities to insure, and it takes a lot of effort to keep us alive.

[Juxtapose]

It's because of corporate greed, not people eating too many Twinkies.

[Weapon77]

Getting people to eat too many Twinkies IS corporate greed

[humanearth]

I don't go, because they are out to kill you, not to heal you.

Doctors are nothing more then legalized drug dealers

What's the first thing they do. When you tell them an issue your having

Give you a drug. Do you they try to find out what's causing the problem, before giving a drug?

No they don't

Your taking the drug and now you have side effects. Then they give you more drugs to treat the side effects

See drug dealer

[KrakenAttackin]

There is no question medical costs are out of control. What I have never had a satisfactory answer to is WHY? The only costs going up faster than medical costs are college tuition costs.

Single -payer systems have their own problems, so that is not a panacea. Whether single payer or the system we have now, costs have to be brought under control. I have read about medical tourism, and if insurance companies get on board, this might be viable for some.

[AngryCarl2]

It's a gravy train. In a private system there's no control over prices. It's not what people can afford, it's how much you can charge.

[Juxtapose]

European countries can pull this off and we are far wealthier than them, so this should be no problem for us. It's because of political corruption and corporate greed that we can't.

[Juxtapose]

Big pharma pretty much owns all the six major media companies and there used to be dozens of them before Bill Clinton fucked everything.

[KrakenAttackin]

I think medical tourism is a viable option for many. We like to think we have the market cornered on "quality" of health care, but we don't. There are plenty of other countries (i. e. Colombia) that have excellent health care available, especially if you are a cash-paying Gringo.

[Justneedtokno]

This is true, the old saying, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Most people don’t worry about things until it’s too late. Of course we all know that we should be doing more especially because we know about how ever growing and changing the medical field is but yet don’t wanna stop what we’re doing because it delays and what we want at the moment

[OddBeMe]

And they shouldn’t go bankrupt from medical issues. I think a govt option, like the usps, would help keep costs down. And promoting preventative health.

Men especially have been taught never to seek help and never show weakness. I’ve been talking about this for so long…what did I call it…oh toxic masculinity.

[Juxtapose]

There are women who put on a tough front as well, I don't know why you attribute it to just men.

[Juxtapose]

But other than that I agree with you.

[OddBeMe]

I mean maybe, but there’s literal research that shows men go to doctors way less often.

[lightbulb27]

Probably true, if they don't have great benefits... and only those in govt or unions probably do, then they wait.

I delay because it's a pain in the neck to find good doctors and help. Often, a waste of time...

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

This is horrible for sure, just yesterday I learned my doctor's office, will no longer be giving out free samples of medication and this decision was made by the local Hospital not the doctor.

[DesiUwU]

this is america lmao

[Juxtapose]

We can certainly do better.

[WindAtMyBack]

It's called being financially prudent. People should be like that with all purchases.

[genericname85]

well it's quite telling that either they're too poor to afford it OR their own health isn't the main priority in their own life...

[Juxtapose]

Profit should never mix with medicine.

[genericname85]

profit helps new medicines and developments... without profit, medicine would be worse and more people would die. and corruption and profiteering is always gonna exist even in a planned totalitarian communist economy which i think we can agree is not a great idea either.

[Twalli]

If you delay, your condition may worsen. If your condition worsens it is harder to deal with and will cost you a lot more.

Source: medical coding and billing. I see how much things cost and what they are.

[exitseven]

I know that people do that. Sometimes doctors order unnecessary tests that people do not want to pay for.

[Aerissa_Jade]

I see the opposite here, insurance won't allow doctors to just say draw blood and then ask for any infections in the blood to be searched for, viral, bacteria, fungal... instead the doctor has to specify EXACTLY what they are looking for to make lab tests cheaper for insurance.

It is rather annoying when I just want to know everything I'm infected with. Insurance does control a lot of what doctors can do though.

[exitseven]

@Aerissa_Jade A doctor wanted to order a CAT scan. Before Obamacare it was a 20 dollar co pay and after it was 200 dollars. I declined the test and told the doc if I didn't start feeling better in a couple of days I would be back for the CAT scan.

[NathanDavis]

I delay it because of my mild germophobia... and also being stubborn AF sometimes

[LiamJHayden]

Massive government intervention has caused the costs to skyrocket, just like with universities. When my parents were young doctors made affordable house calls.

[jshm2]

America - a country where people live and eat like they have free healthcare.