- Joined
- Jul 1, 2005
- Messages
- 231
- Reaction score
- 1
Why is the cost of medicine so high in the US more than anywhere else in the world? Any views, ideas or facts as to why is that?
medstu2006 said:Why is the cost of medicine so high in the US more than anywhere else in the world? Any views, ideas or facts as to why is that?
aubieRx said:oh i thought he meant healthcare in general.
aubieRx said:oh i thought he meant healthcare in general.
medstu2006 said:And that too. Basically, what I was getting to is that healthcare in general is very expensive in the US. Who is at fault? I think everyone involved is- from doctors to insurance companies to patients. Insurance companies charge you based on your age and other x amt of diseases that you have or dont have, and after a certain age, when you need it the most, the companies desert you. Many doctors have exhuberent fees since insurance pays most of it. As a result, insurance costs are high. Prescription drugs are expensive. 2 yrs ago my school nurse prescribed me an anibiotic for my cold. It cost me $80. Quite expensive and I did not buy it. I bought NyQuil and was fine the next day.
Even many hospitals perform unnecessary tests on their patients to gain more money. Patients are at fault as well because there are some who want to sue their doctor for malpractice. It is all a cycle. There must be a solution somewhere for all this. Grrrr.. What do you guys think?
ZpackSux said:This topic is too indepth for most of us to understand. But what is the problem and what outcome do you seek?
"Healthcare is too expensive" is a broad statement. Healthcare is too expensive for whom? Medicare, Medicaid, and insured people?
Or is it too expensive for uninsured who ends up not paying?
Why are employers providing healthcare benefits for employees? When did it become a god given right for employees to receive healthcare from being employed? Where is the connection.
The problem and the solutions lie within us. Healthcare insurance for a family of 4 can range anywhere from $300 to $800 per month. Of course if you're a smoker, obese, and have HTN, Diabetes, it will be expensive...whose fault is that?
Then again, if you're employed, health benefits aren't very expensive.
You say we run unnecessary lab tests? For inpatient with DRG payment, hospiatls lose out..since no matter how many tests a hospital runs..and how much drug is provided, the hospital will only get paid the set DRG payment.
Our healthcare system is not perfect. Then again, I wouldn't go anywhere else in the world to receive healthcare. It's time we demand accountability to everyone and be responsible for their health and healthcare. When you set providing healthcare as a priority for your family, then there are ways and means to meet it. You say it's expensive? So is Lexus .. but it's all over the place.
ZpackSux said:This topic is too indepth for most of us to understand. But what is the problem and what outcome do you seek?
"Healthcare is too expensive" is a broad statement. Healthcare is too expensive for whom? Medicare, Medicaid, and insured people?
Or is it too expensive for uninsured who ends up not paying?
Why are employers providing healthcare benefits for employees? When did it become a god given right for employees to receive healthcare from being employed? Where is the connection.
The problem and the solutions lie within us. Healthcare insurance for a family of 4 can range anywhere from $300 to $800 per month. Of course if you're a smoker, obese, and have HTN, Diabetes, it will be expensive...whose fault is that?
Then again, if you're employed, health benefits aren't very expensive.
You say we run unnecessary lab tests? For inpatient with DRG payment, hospiatls lose out..since no matter how many tests a hospital runs..and how much drug is provided, the hospital will only get paid the set DRG payment.
Our healthcare system is not perfect. Then again, I wouldn't go anywhere else in the world to receive healthcare. It's time we demand accountability to everyone and be responsible for their health and healthcare. When you set providing healthcare as a priority for your family, then there are ways and means to meet it. You say it's expensive? So is Lexus .. but it's all over the place.
The current trends are not working and I am skeptical when the new Medicare bill takes effect in 2006.
ZpackSux said:I ask again. What's not working? What segment of healthcare and what segment of patient population does it affect?
Oneday_9 said:This is not to say that is necessarily bad, it works, but we need to re-think what healthcare is about. It's not a right, it's the opportunity to have some means to benefit from our amazing health care system. The current trends are not working
I don't really understand the logic of government food etc. etc. etc. I mean, I get the point, but I see healthcare as a staple part of simply participating in society. It may be classified as a good but that's all relative to who classifies it that way. Currently, yes, it is viewed as a good with stock holders, the whole mess, but how profound are the implications of such a good? This good, if utilize incorrectly with negligence can end people's lives? These are inevitable, but what I am getting at is, healthcare is more than simply a good, it is a responsibility to be taken on and handled with absolute precision.
I see where you all are coming from . . . but I don't buy such a cold, indifferent analysis.
aubieRx said:i agree with zpacksux (big surprise there)
Why do we need to change a whole system that works fine for 85 percent of the people and has the potential to work fine with a bit of elbow grease for some percentage of the 15% wihtout insurance.
That would be giving everyone crummy healthcare when before it was only 15 percent who had crummy healthcare.
I thought liberals were of the philosophy "greatest good for the greatest number"
Oneday_9 said:Haha and why is this a liberal vs conservative issue? I actually am registered with both parties
t?
I actually am registered with both parties
Oneday_9 said:And there are no republicans that see a problems with the state of healthcare?
I don't know why I find myself being labeled some crazy liberal for proposing some change to an imperfect healthcare system? Just because it is the best does not mean it is perfect or free from a facelift.
And as far as your scenario goes, I wouldn't mind paying extra taxes as it would afford me the chance to have healthcare in the future, especially when I am retired. Now if we enter the domain of being a senior citizen 50 years down the line, god only knows what the cost will be for us. With the state of social scecurity and the elimination of pensions, etc., it's going to become increasingly difficult.
I guess, my feelings are, why do you both seem so astronomically opposed to some sort of change with our system? Let me answer, because there isn't a problem you liberal fool! Am I right? haha
. I think there is a big white elephant in the room, no pun intended in regards to your respective party, and many seem inclined to deny it is there. Same thing with the war in Iraq and many other pressing issues in our political climate. But let's not go there...haha
off to work in the pharmacy! Thank you both for your arguments, as I find them compelling and pushing me to actually research more on this issue.
Good to have some republican friends, as it is bad enough this girl I dating is a staunch republican; I can escape you all! haha
Have a good day!
chotty said:I think there is a big white elephant in the room, no pun intended in regards to your respective party, and many seem inclined to deny it is there. Same thing with the war in Iraq and many other pressing issues in our political climate. But let's not go there...haha -aubieRx
.
aubieRx said:I never said that!
but then again, it doesn't really matter that much
edit: thanks for fixing. If I am to be opinionated I should like to be that way with my own opinions
chotty said:And he didn't mention government-controlled system is better than our current free market health care system. I don't want that, either.
chotty said:(Btw I don't care about the people who ruin their option to get health care by buying Lexus or getting tatoo...etc.)
Healthcare in America is not a given right. You need to work for it like we all do. If people choose to not priortize it and then complain when they need it, that is not the systems fault. I have never had health coverage for my family provided but we always have it because we make it a priorty and pay for it out of pocket, thus the crap 95 civic I still drive. Others can do the same.
aubieRx said:And the only reason I consider major changes to the healthcare system a liberal agenda is that it is primarily liberal politicians and liberal voters who really want to push for it. I am sure that not all liberals feel that way about healthcare but the general trend is that liberals are for a more socialized healthcare and conservatives are not
Also, I don't think what we have in america is perfect because, yes , it is expensive. But I think the overall disadvantages of this expense are less negative than the overall disadvantages of government health care.
And even with govt care you still get taxed for it. So its not "free"
anyone who can afford it will fly into america to get major surgery done rather than do it in their own contry. To me that speaks volumes about us vs. them as far as health care quality.
I don't have the guts ann does...I do all my proding and poking anonymously
I have never had health coverage for my family provided but we always have it because we make it a priorty and pay for it out of pocket, thus the crap 95 civic I still drive. Others can do the same.
WVUPharm2007 said:Ann...? Who?
Uh, oh, the patented 'life experience' thing. I can up the ante on that one. I had an uncle-in-law who contracted AIDS from his ex wife that cheated on him and couldn't afford the HIV medications because he had no health insurance and died within 3 years due to lack of quality treatment. He didn't have the opportunity to work for it.
aubieRx said:well why change it to make it more lke other countries who do not have good healthcare systems in comparison with our own?
you'll feel differently when you see a big chunk missing from your paycheck
Because the system will never be perfect and overhaulng a good system to chase some impossible idea of perfection is a fool's errand
don't blame me im a registered gp ralph naderite and voted for him in the last election. you know i am registered with 30 parties including the communist one.
as a registered republican in san fran. i am sure you have a lot to talk about with your republican girlfriend
so I respect you both, as I have seen Zpack's posts for awhile and you seem pretty cool.
ZpackSux said:Sorry about your uncle. But why didn't he have insurance?
ZpackSux said:Is infant mortality the definining criteria of the "best" system in the world?
Do we know why US rate is higher than the other? Is it a system failure or is it a social consequence? Perhaps you can shed some light on it since you're using this stat to prove that US system isn't so good.
WVUPharm2007 said:And who is Ann?
Ann Coulter is a far as you can go right winger that hates liberals and cant see past the word liberal and hates everything associated with the word liberal that even if a liberal came up with an idea that everyone in the whole world agreed with she would find a way to spin it and hate it. She basically takes everything Rush says and regurgitates it, just like Sean and all the other liberal haters. They all hate the New York times and anytime they can bash it they do. Thats where Aubie gets her hatred for the New York times, and CNN, and thinks fox news is the best thing since sliced bread. Why?, because Ann, Sean, and Rush say so. Many American that listen to these people will repeat their hatred speech without really deciding for themselves. There are Nascar fans out there regurgitating what these people say like, The New York times is so biased, or damn liberal they want to take all our money, or they should impeach are president because he got a blow job and that is so immoral. They say and believe everything these liberal haters say without even deciding for themselves. I love how Nascar and Bush stickers go hand and hand. Oh and John Deere and bush too. When it comes down to it the normal Nascar fans couldnt even tell you who the governor of their state is yet they can comment on highly involved political issues because they listen to the very moral vicodin/percocet Rush and regurgitate it.WVUPharm2007 said:And who is Ann?
museabuse said:Thats where Aubie gets her hatred for the New York times, and CNN, and thinks fox news is the best thing since sliced bread. Why?, because Ann, Sean, and Rush say so. Many American that listen to these people will repeat their hatred speech without really deciding for themselves. There are Nascar fans out there regurgitating what these people say like, The .
WVUPharm2007 said:Oooooooooooh, one of those hacks. I'd be offended if someone compared me to the likes of her or Michael Moore, personally.
Oh and John Deere and bush too